It’s her birthday today.
In 2018 I was assigned by the Criterion Collection to write tributes to four of Ingmar Bergman’s actresses: Liv Ullmann, Bibi Andersson, (Liv and Bibi were paired together in one video – Bergman saw them as a part as well) Ingrid Thulin and … one more (which hasn’t launched, hence my not mentioning it). This assignment required a deep dive into Ingmar Bergman’s work, which took up an entire month and a half of watching, 2, 3 movies a day.
The landing page for all of the videos is here, and here’s the one I did for Liv Ullmann and Bibi Andersson, a deep dive into their work with Bergman, how he saw each of them, their journeys with him, and who they were as actresses, both together and separate.
I didn’t mention Ullmann’s directorial career which has been extensive (movies and theatre). I was able to review her film adaptation of Miss Julie, starring Jessica Chastain, Colin Farrell and Samantha Morton.
Thank you so much for stopping by. If you like what I do, and if you feel inclined to support my work, here’s a link to my Venmo account. And I’ve launched a Substack, Sheila Variations 2.0, if you’d like to subscribe.
Linn Ullman’s short story in The New Yorker this week or last week is so very wonderful. I would bet my house you have already read it.
No!!! I haven’t! Thanks for the heads up, Steve, I’m so excited!