| Liv Ullmann Norwegian actress, known for her work in Swedish films, especially those of Ingmar Bergman. Liv Ullmann started on stage in Anne Frank (1957), and has since pursued a long and distinguished career in the theatre, both in Norway and internationally. Her first Norwegian film role was a minor part in Edith Carlmar's Fjols til fjells/Fools in the Mountains (1957) and her first lead in Ung flukt/Young Escape (1959), by the same director. Ullmann's close (professional and personal) relationship with Bergman started with Persona (1966), and she played the lead in Vargtimmen/Hour of the Wolf (1968), Skammen/Shame (1968) and En passion/Passion/The Passion of Anna (1969), among other films. Bergman's intense use of facial close-ups brought Ullmann's sensitivity and understated performance style to the world, and made her one of the stars of the European art cinema. Her beauty is characterised by classically pure Nordic features, with blue eyes and long blonde hair and an aura of the 'natural'. Her persona is that of the troubled, suffering 'modern' woman, combining intellect with elemental wisdom. She continued to work with Bergman in the 1970s, notably in the acclaimed Viskningar och rop/Cries and Whispers (1973), and played leads in his international television series Scener ur ett aktenskap/Scenes from a Marriage (1974) and Ansikte mot ansikte/Face to Face (1975). She was also celebrated for her part as Ingrid Bergman's daughter in Hostsonat/Autumn Sonata (1978). Ullmann has worked with other Swedish film-makers, playing the lead in Jan Troell's epics on the Swedes' contribution to the American West, Utvandrana/The Emigrants (1971) and Nyhyggarna/The Settlers (1972). She has for many years been engaged in humanitarian work for UNICEF, and has written two volumes of autobiography: Forandringen (Changing, 1977) and Tidewann (Choices, 1984). In 1992, Sofie, her first film as a director, was released (she had co-directed Love in 1982). The story of a Jewish girl growing up in Denmark towards the end of the nineteenth century, Sofie is a beautiful and thought-provoking film, and was a critical success.
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Liv Ullmann |
