Ansiktet (1958)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Ingmar Bergman

Writer:

Ingmar Bergman (writer)

Release Date:

27 August 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Into the Nether-World! You'll Gasp At This Occult Hypnotic Experience Into the Supernatural!

Plot:

When 'Vogler's Magnetic Health Theater' comes to town, there's bound to be a spectacle. Reading reports...

Plot Keywords:

Parable | 1800s | Illusion | Magician

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Max von Sydow	...	Albert Emanuel Vogler
Ingrid Thulin	...	Manda Vogler (alias Mr. Aman)
Gunnar Björnstrand	...	Dr. Vergerus, Minister of Health
Naima Wifstrand	...	Granny Vogler
Bengt Ekerot	...	Johan Spegel
Bibi Andersson	...	Sara Lindqvist
Gertrud Fridh	...	Ottilia Egerman
Lars Ekborg	...	Simson, the coach driver
Toivo Pawlo	...	Police Superintendant Starbeck
Erland Josephson	...	Consul Egerman
Åke Fridell	...	Tubal
Sif Ruud	...	Sofia Garp
Oscar Ljung	...	Antonsson, burly stableman
Ulla Sjöblom	...	Henrietta Starbeck
Axel Düberg	...	Rustan, young manservant

Also Known As:

The Face (UK)
The Magician (USA)

Runtime:

100 min | UK:107 min

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

AGA Sound System

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | UK:PG (video rating) (2001) | UK:X

Filming Locations:

Djurgardsslaten 49-51, Skansen, Djurgården, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden

Company:

Svensk Filmindustri (SF)

Trivia:

The character name Vergerus is one that recurs throughout Bergman's work and is generally associated with lack of emotion and heartlessness.

Quotes:

Dr. Vergerus, Minister of Health: The whole evening I've been fighting an unexplainable liking for you and your husband.
Manda Vogler: You surprise me.
Dr. Vergerus, Minister of Health: I took to you at once... your faces, your silence, your natural dignity. I would not admit it if I were not slightly drunk.
Manda Vogler: Then leave us alone.
Dr. Vergerus, Minister of Health: I can't. You represent what I detest most of all... the unexplainable.

a Bergman film that's not depressing or about death!

I've seen a lot of Ingmar Bergman films and sometimes I don't want to see one of his films about death or mental illness. Well, starting in the 1960s to the 1980s, these were the main themes of his movies, but in some of his earlier films, these are not so pervasive--such as the movies The Devil's Eye (a comedy) and The Magician ("Ansiktet"). Because of this, they may be more approachable to the average viewer who would balk at the much more serious tone of such classics as Through a Glass Darkly (deep depression), Persona (mental illness), Autumn Sonata (repressed anger and abandonment), The Seventh Seal (death and the plague) or Fanny and Alexander (child abuse and emotional neglect).

The story is about a traveling group of hoaxters who put on a show combining magic and "animal magnetism" (i.e., an early name given to hypnosis). When they arrive at a Swedish town, they are forced to come to an audience with the local official and his cronies who want to prove that the act is a fraud. Bergman really doesn't try to resolve this issue, but instead shows how the town officials are really rather petty and mean people. How this traveling group deftly survives this encounter is the main focus of the movie. I especially liked the portion of the movie about the autopsy. It sounds gross, but I thought it was actually kind of funny. One of the officials is a cold and rather nasty doctor who longs for a chance to do an autopsy on the hypnotist. He gets far more than he bargains for--that's all I really want to say--otherwise it might ruin the suspense.

So, overall I liked the movie. It was not great but well acted and not the least bit depressing.