Event introduced by Gian Luca Farinelli and Isabella Rossellini
In the film my mother played the role of a hugely successful concert pianist and Liv Ullman was the daughter who berated her for ruining her life in the name of her career. Liv told me what happened during the key scene of the film, when the daughter reminds her mother of all the times she wasn’t there. The director Ingmar Bergman wanted the mother’s face, as her daughter continued to accuse her, to slowly begin to express the recognition and weight of her guilt. But my mother declared: “I would slap her! No one is responsible for the life of others”. Thus began a terrible argument between the two Bergmans, actress and director. In Fårö, where Bergman’s films were shot, everyone considered him a God. No actor had ever contradicted him. When they returned to the set, they shot the close-up of the mother’s face and Liv told me: “That’s when I understood your mother’s immense talent. Her face reflected an explosive but silent rage, like a cage that imprisoned women within the rules of the patriarchy, and her rage brought a new, deeper and more modern dimension to the character”. For me, this story is a wonderful example of the contribution an actor can give. Even while respecting the script, an actor can add a truer and deeper dimension.
DIRECTOR: Ingrid Bergman
NATION: Francia, Germania, Svezia
YEAR: 1978
RUNTIME: 99′
CAST: Ingrid Bergman, Mario Vitale, Renzo Cesana, Mario Sponza, Roberto Onorati, Verner Biel
Original version with subtitles