From the "People" Archives:

by Stan Schwartz

(indieWIRE/ 10.2..00) -- One of the highlights of this year's New York Film Festival is Liv Ullmann's "Faithless" (screening tonight), with a script written by Ingmar Bergman. A dark and uncompromising film of extraordinary intensity -- not surprising, given its author -- "Faithless" is primarily the story of an infidelity. Marianne, a successful actress (Bergman regular Lena Endre, in an extraordinary, shattering performance) jeopardizes a happy marriage to a world-renown conductor (Thomas Hanzon) by commencing an affair with David, a theater director (Krister Henriksson), who also happens to be a friend of the family. Suffice it to say the consequences are tragic.

But "Faithless" is much more than just the story of an affair, as evidenced by the very particular device Bergman uses to frame his film. The story of the affair is recounted in the form of memories summoned up many years later by an aging writer/director named Bergman (Erland Josephson) as he sits in his work room by the sea on the secluded island of Fårö. Sound familiar? And the ghost of Marianne is now Bergman's muse: as she recounts the story of the tortured affair long ago, Bergman makes notes in his note books, and the pain and suffering is presumably transcended as the writer/director transforms his past into a work of art for the future.

Director Ullmann's association with Bergman goes back over a quarter of a century when she first appeared in his 1966 masterpiece "Persona," with other historic performances in Bergman films over the years including "Cries and Whispers" and "Scenes From a Marriage." In more recent years, Ullmann has become a director in her own right, with "Faithless" being the second of Bergman's scripts she has directed (the first was "Private Confessions" in 1996). Warm, funny, articulate and looking as luminous as ever, Ullmann was happy to chat about her film, Bergman and her career during a recent visit to New York.

"Faithless" will be distributed by IDP/Samuel Goldwyn in January 2001.

indieWIRE: What attracted you to the script?

"[He] wanted a woman's images, her experiences. So he asked me to direct it. So I've done it with tremendous love for him but also because it gave me a voice in someone else's script."

Liv Ullmann: As a matter of fact, Bergman wrote three scripts. The first script was incredible. It was very long and that attracted me tremendously because it was so multi-facetted in many ways. And then he wrote a new script that wasn't attractive for the actors, because they were all gone. It was only a monologue of [the character Marianne]. And then he wrote the third script that had many of the elements of the first script. Since I was the director doing the shooting script, I could use my knowledge of the first script [to influence] my knowledge of the third script.

iW: It was strictly Bergman's idea to rewrite it twice?

Ullmann: It was definitely his own decision, not mine. I just loved the first version. It was very much based on the talk between the two of them. To me, the most fascinating of the two stories is between the writer and the woman. She's an actress and you really see this back and forth [tension] between the writer/director and the woman/actress, the play of power, and all of that. So that is what attracted me.

iW: Given your history with Bergman, there must have been some personal associations as well . . .

Ullmann: Yes. I saw myself as the woman who is asked to come into [Bergman's] work room and give images to his story. And he felt that these are images [he] cannot do myself, or [he didn't] want to do. [He] wanted a woman's images, her experiences. So he asked me to direct it. And I also know that work room of his so very well. So I completely copied that. So I've done it with tremendous love for him but also because it gave me a voice in someone else's script.

iW: Is Bergman's script strictly dialogue or is there some indication of camerawork or blocking?

Ullmann: There is no indication of camera or blocking. If there was, I wouldn't have done it. And he wouldn't want that either. The exciting thing for him was what would I put them in. And I even said to him, "Should we discuss it?" And he said no, he thought it would be really exciting to see what images I would [come up with].

iW: Was Bergman happy with the finished film?

Ullmann: I don't want to talk on behalf of him, but I know he showed it to many people. He showed it to all his children. And when he published the book of his first script, he dedicated it to Lena and me, which he wouldn't have done [if he didn't like the final film]. And I know that he was also very pleased that the child is now very much in the movie. You know, he said, "Now why didn't I think of that?"

iW: Is there any extra pressure when you're directing a script with that name attached to it that you wouldn't feel if it was someone else's script?

Ullmann: Yes there is. Because [Bergman] is very strong and controlling. We didn't talk about the movie for two years [of production]. We talked about other things when we were on the phone or when we met or whatever. I knew that if we had talked about it, then, of course, he'd say "But why are you doing that? I think you should do this and this." So we didn't talk about it. And afterwards, it's tough because if it goes well, it's a Bergman movie, and if it goes bad, I ruined his script. But still, it's a great privilege that you work with someone like that. So if [the public] likes it and says it's a Bergman movie, that's okay with me.

iW: You've done plenty of things completely outside the "Bergman galaxy," both on stage and film and other things outside show business completely -- the political activism and refugee work. To what extend do you feel people still link you to Bergman and does that bother you?

"Watching someone else do that gives you such pleasure. And that is a real privilege, to be around that and allow for that. Because there are so many directors who would trample on someone like that."

Ullmann: For a while, people didn't. But of course now, with the two last films, certain film people start to link me again. But I did that knowingly. And it doesn't bother me, because the people who really know me and know what kind of life I've had also know how very different it is from the life Ingmar has on Fårö. And you know, I understand my daughter [Linn, whose father is Bergman] better now than I did before in terms of how difficult it is to have famous parents. I thought she'd be so proud of that, and you know it's a struggle because people don't talk to her like she is who she is. They talk about her father, or maybe even her mother. And now I understand it because yes, I do sometimes get tired of . . . you know, I am not me. I am the muse of Ingmar, or he is my mentor. And you know, he has never been my mentor. I don't even know what a mentor is in that way, because my life has been very rich outside of him. And now my daughter has become a writer in her own right -- she has a book out now in the United States.

iW: It got excellent reviews here . . .

Ullmann: Yes. And I think it is wonderful. You know, her dream was, when she was little, "One day, you're gonna see, you're gonna be my mother." And I've had that experience a few times: "Oh, Linn Ullmann is your daughter, is she?" And it gave me great pleasure. I would rather be the mother of Linn Ullmann than the muse of Ingmar Bergman. Although I am very, very proud of all the years we've been together. I think it is fantastic to have started when I was 25 and gone the full circle: all the movies as an actress, then the family life, then for many, many more years the friendship, and now, directing his scripts. It is a story that never ends, and that is a very, very privileged story.

iW: What's next for you?

Ullmann: After this, I want some time for myself in the "now." I have some very good offers -- projects to direct -- and I will make a decision.

iW: No acting?

Ullmann: No. I might change my mind tomorrow. But the way I feel now, I just want to be in the "now" and see what I really want to do with the talent that I have. You ask me if I want to act. You know, it gives me so much pleasure to see someone like Lena do what she's doing in the movie, and I don't think I would have felt such pleasure if I was trying to do that myself. Watching someone else do that gives you such pleasure. And that is a real privilege, to be around that and allow for that. Because there are so many directors who would trample on someone like that.