By The Times-Ledger
“The Lifetime Series” beginning Saturday, Jan. 13 is part of an ongoing series at the museum sponsored by Lifetime Television, recognizing the work of major creative women in film and television.
The retrospective includes:
* All four of Ullmann's films as director, including a discussion with Ullmann following the Jan. 21 screening of her new film, “Faithless,” which opens in New York on Jan. 26.
* A selection of six of her finest performances, including “Cries and Whispers,” “Shame,” “The Passing of Anna,” “Hour of the Wolf,” and “Scenes From a Marriage” (all directed by Ingmar Bergman) and her Oscar-nominated performance in “The Emigrants.”
* A screening of the documentary on Ullmann, “Scenes from a Life,” narrated by Woody Alien.
In 1991, Ullmann was asked by the Nordic Film & TV Fund to direct “Sophie,” an adaptation of the 1932 novel. With the quiet, intimate approach that would become her directorial trademark, she created a touching evocation of traditional Jewish life, and a portrait of a woman who defies convention in order to live by the dictates of her heart.
The theme forms the core of each of Ullmann's films as director. After “Sophie,” Ullmann undertook “Kristin Lavransdatter,” an adaptation of the first section of Sigrid Undset's Nobel-prize winning epic novel, one of the most beloved works of Norwegian literature.
The 3-1/2-hour film, about a 14th-century woman who marries the man she loves rather than the one her father has selected, was an enormous box-office success in Norway. The film, cut by an hour for its limited American release, will be shown at the museum in its entirety.
A woman's rebellion against society – and her religion – is the theme of “Private Confessions,” Ullmann's first collaboration as director with screenwriter Ingmar Bergman. It was, of course, her emotionally wrenching performances for Bergman in the 1960s and 1970s – including “Hour of the Wolf,” “Shame,” “The Passion of Anna,” “Cries and Whispers,” and “Scenes From a Marriage” – that made Ullmann an international star.
In “Private Confessions,” a woman's affair with a young cleric forms the basis for a thoughtful exploration of faith, love, guilt, and family. A powerful study of infidelity, it was also a prelude to Ullmann's major achievement to date as director of “Faithless,” focusing on a broken marriage.
“'Faithless' is based on a real event in Ingmar Bergman's life,” said Ullmann. “He tried to write about this for many years but was only able to do so when he found the inspiration for the script in the character and temperament of an actress. It was she who brought the situation to life for him and embodied the role for him.”
In its portrayal of an affair between a director (named Bergman) and Marianne, a married woman, “Faithless” moves gracefully between two different perspectives.
Ullmann's directorial work clearly shows the influence of Bergman in its attention to physical and emotional detail, its psychological intensity, and its reliance on a strong ensemble of actors and crew members. Yet like the heroines in each of her films, Ullmann exhibits the strong point of view of a woman who has chosen to live her own life and create her own art.
The Liv Ullmann retrospective was organized by Carla Waldron, assistant curator of film, and presented with the assistance of the Consulate General of Sweden, the Swedish Institute, and the Norwegian Film Institute.
For more information call 718-784-4520.
This is the schedule for the Museum of the Moving Image's tribute to actress/director Liv Ullmann.
Saturday, Jan. 13
2 p.m. SHAME Sweden, 1968, 103 mins. Directed by Ingmar Bergman. With Liv Ullmann and Max von Sydow. In this stark tale of war and its destructive consequences, Ullmann and von Sydow are married musicians who escape to a deserted island to hide from the violence- – only to find that they can't. “As an artist, I am terrified by what is happening in the world,” said Bergman. “The fear I experience is what I hope to portray in 'Shame.'”
4 p.m. THE PASSION OF ANNA Sweden, 1969, 100 mins. Directed by Ingmar Bergman. With Ullmann, Bibi Andersson, Max von Sydow, and Erland Josephson. Ullmann is a widow living on a remote island with an architect and his wife. Their lives are disrupted by a hermit-like ex-con played by von Sydow in this complex study of human isolation. Bergman's first major film in color features Sven Nykvist's stunning cinematography.
Sunday, Jan. 14
2 p.m. SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE Sweden, 1973, 168 mins. Directed by Ingmar Bergman. With Ullmann, Erland Josephson, Bibi Andersson. In this theatrical version of a five-hour mini-series for Swedish television, Ullmann is an abandoned wife struggling with her husband's infidelities with a young woman. Bergman and cinematographer Nykvist powerfully use close-ups to capture the expressive potential of the human face, heightening the film's psychological intensity.
5 p.m. HOUR OF THE WOLF Sweden, 1968, 88 mins. Directed by Ingmar Bergman. With Ullmann, Max von Sydow, and Erland Josephson. This hallucinatory tale of an artist's descent into madness – with Ullmann as his pregnant wife – is one of Bergman's most gothic films. The title refers to the time between night and dawn, which Bergman calls “the hour when the sleepless are pursued by their sharpest anxieties, when ghosts and demons hold sway…and the hour when most children are born.”
Saturday, Jan. 20
2 p.m. SOPHIE Denmark-Sweden-Norway, 1993, 152 mins. Directed by Ullmann. With Karen Lise-Mynster, Erland Josephson. Ullmann's debut as director and screenwriter is an adaptation of the classic Danish novel, “Mendel Philipsen & Son” by Henri Nathansen. The drama recounts a young Jewish woman's struggle to escape the demands of her strict religious family and to find happiness in a dull marriage.
5 p.m. Director Edward Hambro in person. SCENES FROM A LIFE Norway, 1997, 77 mins. Directed by Edward Hambro. Woody Alien narrates this thoughtful and revealing portrait of Ullmann as actress, director, and humanitarian. The screening will be introduced by Hambro, who filmed Ullmann over a period of two years to make this unusually intimate award-winning documentary.
Sunday, Jan. 2
2 p.m. A Pinewood dialogue with Liv Ullmann. FAITHLESS Sweden, 2000, 155 mins. Directed by Ullmann. Written by Ingmar Bergman. With Lena Endre, Erland Josephson. An aging filmmaker named Bergman reflects on his life as he tries to piece together the memories of his destructive affair with a married woman long ago. The woman, Marianne, appears as his muse, and through her eyes the viewer witnesses the growth of a casual affair into passion leading to tragic consequences. Lena Endre, supported by an impressive cast, delivers a soul-baring performance as she explores the gamut of human emotions in this film, directed by Ullmann.
Saturday, Jan. 27
2 p.m. CRIES AND WHISPERS Sweden, 1973, 95 mins. Directed by Ingmar Bergman. With Ullmann, Ingrid Thulin. This visually stunning film is generally considered Bergman's late-period masterpiece. In its saga of two very different women caring for their dying sister, Ullmann plays the detached and narcissistic Maria. “Superbly photographed in a style suggesting Edward Munch. . .the film is smooth and hypnotic; it has oracular power and the pull of a dream” (Pauline Kael).
4 p.m. THE EMIGRANTS Sweden, 1972, 151 mins. Directed by Jan Troell. With Ullmann, Max von Sydow. Ullmann received an Oscar nomination for her performance in this lyrical epic about a Swedish peasant family's perilous journey to Minnesota – on foot, train, and paddle boat in search of a better life. Troell wrote, directed, photographed, and edited this powerful adaptation of Wilhelm Moberg's classic novels.
Sunday, Jan. 28
2 p.m. PRIVATE CONFESSIONS Sweden, 1996, 125 mins. Directed by Ullmann. With Pernilla August, Samuel Froler, Max von Sydow. Ullmann directs a script by Bergman based on his parents' marriage. The film opens with the wife's confession of an affair with a young cleric, and is structured around her conversations with her husband, lover, and spiritual adviser – all of whom are priests. Ullmann's deeply felt direction is enriched by the strong ensemble acting and by Nykvist's luminous photography.
4:30 p.m. KRISTIN LAVRANSDATTER Norway-Germany-Sweden, 1995, 200 mins. Directed by Ullmann. With Elisabeth Matheson, Bjorn Skagestad. Against the backdrop of Sven Nykvist's lush images of the Norwegian landscape, Ullmann creates a moving portrait of a 14th century heroine who marries the man she loves despite her father's demands for an arranged marriage. The film is adapted from Kransen, the first part of Sigrid Undset's 1928 Nobel Prize-winning novel Kristin Lavransdatter.
Call 718-784-4520 for ticket information.
