Face to Face (1976)

A married couple of psychiatrists has their relationship tested when one suffers a mental breakdown.

Director:

Ingmar Bergman

Writer:

Ingmar Bergman

Stars:

Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson, Aino Taube

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Liv Ullmann	...	Jenny Isaksson
Erland Josephson	...	Tomas Jacobi
Aino Taube	...	The Grandmother
Gunnar Björnstrand	...	The Grandfather
Kristina Adolphson	...	Nurse Veronica
Marianne Aminoff	...	Jenny's Mother
Gösta Ekman	...	Mikael Strömberg
Helene Friberg	...	Anna Isaksson
Ulf Johansson	...	Helmuth Wankel (as Ulf Johanson)
Sven Lindberg	...	Eric Isaksson
Jan-Erik Lindqvist	...	Jenny's Father
Birger Malmsten	...	Rapist
Sif Ruud	...	Elisabeth Wankel
Göran Stangertz	...	Rapist

Storyline

With her husband Eric at a medical congress in Chicago and their fourteen year old daughter at riding camp for the summer, psychiatrist Dr. Jenny Isaksson has emptied out their old house while their new house is being built, and has moved in with her grandparents in the house in which she grew up, she having temporarily assumed the role of senior physician at a psychiatric hospital filling in for a vacationing colleague. She is having a casual, meaningless affair with a man named Martin, while she believes that Tomas Jacobi, who she meets at a party, also is making sexual advances toward her. Regardless of if her assumption about Tomas is correct, the two become friends and frequent companions. In watching her grandmother lovingly take care of her ailing grandfather, remembering back to her childhood with her grandparents, spending time with Tomas, and processing an event associated with one of her more severe cases, that of a young woman named Maria, Jenny, in a fragile mental state,...

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Plot Keywords:

sleeping pills | rape attempt | grandparents | eastern europe | psychiatrist | 

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Taglines:

The greatest Bergman

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

The TV version is a four-part mini-series: 1. Uppbrottet (The Separation); 2. Gränsen (The Border); 3. Skymningslandet (The Twilight Land); 4. Återkomsten (The Return). A total of 176 minutes compared to the film's 130 minutes (25 fps).

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Quotes

Dr. Jenny Isaksson: Why must I always have a guilty conscience?

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Connections

Referenced in Spider (2002)

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Soundtracks

Fantasy in C-minor, K.475
By Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performed by Käbi Laretei

User Reviews

Merciless Study of Mental Illness

"Face to Face" exists mostly as a showcase for one of Ingmar Bergman's favorite actresses, Liv Ullmann, and she gives a tour de force performance. She plays Jenny Isaakson, a psychiatrist who can't help herself when her mental illness sends her teetering over the brink into a complete emotional breakdown. The film is unrelenting, comprised of one merciless scene after another in which the camera rests in extreme closeup on Ullmann's face and captures the anguish writ large there. It's a tough watch, but it's also morbidly fascinating. I've always been interested in studies about mental illness, and "Face to Face" is one of the most realistic I've seen in showing how such an illness manifests itself.

Ullmann was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in the year that Faye Dunaway won for "Network." The Academy had a tough decision on its hands that year. And Bergman also received a nomination for Best Director.

Grade: A

Details

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish

Release Date:

5 April 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

Face to Face

Filming Locations:

Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinematograph AB

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min 176 min (4 parts) (TV)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1