Frau ohne Gesicht

"Woman Without a Face" is a film Bergman wrote to be directed by Gustaf Molander, the director of the Swedish"Intermezzo," which made Ingrid Bergman an international star. Here you have one of Sweden's greatest actress who made few films but her last role in cinema was Helena Ekdahl in "Fanny and Alexander.". She and Alf Kjellin burn up the screen with their sordid twisted passion as Bergman's script explores the dark side of love and sex. It was made 2 years before "Prison," the film in which Bergman had free artistic control as director for the first time. The two films are almost siblings and share some common themes and situations, except that here everything works to perfection. The character played by Wållgren is solidly written and is certainly one of the most interesting characters he created in his early films. Her performance makes you understand the meaning of the word "riveting," as she obviously takes delight in such a complex character, a "femme fatale," but one who herself is trapped in her own perversion. Kjellin is perfect as the seemilingly well brought up family man who is drawn into Wållgren's carefully spun spiderweb of sado-masochism. This film is an absolutely must-see for anyone interested in Bergman's early years and it is a tragedy that it has not been included in the British or American "complete" box sets of Bergman's work. It's included in the Swedish SFI Bergman box but with subtitles only in Swedish! All Bergman fans need to see this. Perhaps you can watch it holding up a smartphone to translate the dialogue for you.