Liv Ullman, in the first of her many collaborations with Bergman, plays Elisabet, an actress inexplicably struck mute, and now cared for by nurse Alma (Bibi Andersson) in a remote seaside cottage, a relationship that ebbs and flows as each woman strives for superiority. The more the nurse relates the details of her own private life, the more control the actress assumes. The sense of psychological breakdown is communicated directly to the audience, both in the superlative performances and in Bergman’s groundbreaking formal devices, which include a depiction of the film itself breaking down as it speeds through a projector.

The screening will be introduced by Professor Ruth Barton, Dept. of Film, Trinity College Dublin.

Notes by David O’Mahony.

This film screens as part of BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL: THE FILMS OF INGMAR BERGMAN.

See the full collection of films on IFI@Home, launching February 1st.