"Do you think we're an army of one million emotionally crippled people, wretches who wander around, shouting to each other with words we don't understand and that make us even more scared?"
Liv Ullman plays a psychologist helping some seriously disturbed patients, but in time we find that she suffers from childhood trauma and has some pretty serious issues of her own. While she tries to face her demons, I think the title is ironic, because if anything "Face to Face" seems to be about facing the disquieting truth about the human condition, that we are ultimately alone. Brace yourself, because it's a rather somber work.
We see a divorced man (Erland Josephson) rather sadly try to pursue her, her grandfather (Gunnar Björnstrand) breaking down in old age, and a friend pathetically try to turn the wheels of time back by getting a lover 26 years younger. There is great cynicism about human connection, and the ability of psychology to help patients with their problems. There is an attempted rape, attempted suicide, and attempts at connecting with family members, all of which fail, which I think is telling.
It's interesting to see the faces of people at a piano recital, as the music is so beautiful and they look erudite and enjoying something elevated, but it's contrasted to the people we learn about, each of whom have problems, like the "emotionally crippled" people Ullman's character alludes to. Bergman offers a ray of hope in the love between the grandparents, but it's brief.
Liv Ullman gives a virtuoso performance and the dream sequences Bergman includes are dramatic and frightening, so I was tempted to nudge my review score up a bit. The way the plot slowly meanders and how certain elements played out were a bit of a letdown though. Overall, it seems like the germ of the idea was a good one and it has its moments, but it fell short for me. Watch it for Ullman's performance though.
Liv Ullman plays a psychologist helping some seriously disturbed patients, but in time we find that she suffers from childhood trauma and has some pretty serious issues of her own. While she tries to face her demons, I think the title is ironic, because if anything "Face to Face" seems to be about facing the disquieting truth about the human condition, that we are ultimately alone. Brace yourself, because it's a rather somber work.
We see a divorced man (Erland Josephson) rather sadly try to pursue her, her grandfather (Gunnar Björnstrand) breaking down in old age, and a friend pathetically try to turn the wheels of time back by getting a lover 26 years younger. There is great cynicism about human connection, and the ability of psychology to help patients with their problems. There is an attempted rape, attempted suicide, and attempts at connecting with family members, all of which fail, which I think is telling.
It's interesting to see the faces of people at a piano recital, as the music is so beautiful and they look erudite and enjoying something elevated, but it's contrasted to the people we learn about, each of whom have problems, like the "emotionally crippled" people Ullman's character alludes to. Bergman offers a ray of hope in the love between the grandparents, but it's brief.
Liv Ullman gives a virtuoso performance and the dream sequences Bergman includes are dramatic and frightening, so I was tempted to nudge my review score up a bit. The way the plot slowly meanders and how certain elements played out were a bit of a letdown though. Overall, it seems like the germ of the idea was a good one and it has its moments, but it fell short for me. Watch it for Ullman's performance though.