A tremendous performance by Liv Ullman as a psychiatrist who is herself slowly going mad, haunted by dreams or visions of her past, pushing her towards suicide. Some of the dream imagery is truly striking and nightmarish – once again Bergman comes close to making a horror film. But at times these visions and their symbols are a bit on the nose, and at times they get repetitive. None the less, I look foreword to seeing this again. I only wish the full 200 minute version (made as 4 50 minute parts for Swedish TV) were available. I have a feeling that might make for a richer experience

This is a very good film. You better watch it after you have seen some of th other Bergman movie, because its one of his more complicated movies.A psychiatrist suffers from something she cant understand. We will join her in her search for redemption. On the way will see complicated relationships, dreams with a deep meaning, and metaphoric visions. Very powerful moments in this movie. Those who love Bergman are sure to enjoy this, this is one of the best of his 70s/80s movies.Except the interesting storyline there's also good acting form all the players and an amazing acting from Liv Ullmann. Her fans will surely enjoy this.

This movie is nothing short of of a masterpiece of dramatic power and psychological insight. If the mark of a great work of art is that it takes a lot out of you while at the same time giving you a lot, then "Face to Face" is a great film by one of the cinema's (and the theatre's) greatest directors. During the 136-minute film we are confronted with the spectacle of an intelligent woman's soul being laid bare. It is the soul of Jenny Isakson (Liv Ullmann), a Stockholm psychiatrist, as she finds her confidently professional self-assured hold on the world slipping perilously into disarray. Liv Ullmann is of course no stranger to this type of intense Bergman role, from the mute actress of "Persona" to the defeated wife in the 1974 "Scenes form a Marriage" and in films like "Shame," "The Passion of Anna," and "Cries and Whispers." What a marvel!For virtually the entire length of this harrowing piece, the actress is on screen, and she is such a mistress of her craft, one feels like reaching up to the screen to embrace and perhaps congratulate her. It is that kind of moving performance. The much-praised scene in which she tells Erland Josephson about an attempted rape she experienced has the intensity of an operatic aria as she shifts moods: bemused laughter, pleading sobs, hysterical abandon. It is hard to see the junctures between each emotion. They meld into an overwhelming emotional experience. This and the other collaborative efforts of Bergman and Ullman have very few parallels in the history of cinema. Some of them might be: Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman, Josef von Sternberg and Marlene Dietrich, G.W. Pabst and Louise Brooks, Federico Fellini and Giulietta Masina.

I saw this with friends when it was first released and twenty minutes after we had left the cinema we realized that no one had spoken. This is a masterful film with Liv Ullman's performance eclipsing any seen on screen. You feel the pain, the hurt and the confusion as you watch this woman's journey. A film for those who like intense, thought provoking and intelligent story telling.