Liv Ullmann

Indeholder "1. del. Norge", "2. del. Øboere", "3. del. 'Twinkle, twinkle little star'", "4. del. Skuespiller", "Daglige notater over arbejdet med "Ansikte mot ansikte", hvor hun spiller psykiatrikeren Jenny Isaksson", "Epilog".

Liv Ullmann eller Liv Johanne Ullmann blev født i Tokyo, Japan den 16 december 1938 af norske forældre og denne selvbiografi er fra 1977, da hun var knap fyrre år gammel. Hendes mor har fortalt at jordemoderen undskyldte at det blev en pige og spurgte om hun selv ville fortælle det til faderen.

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In contrast with her previous book "Mutations", this book was harder to read. There are descriptions of her experiences as UNICEF goodwill ambassador to places such as India, South-east Asia, Africa, Haiti, Ecuador and Colombia. The descriptions are heart wrenching but the worst part is to know that today, decades later, the situation in many of these countries have not changed. Some of her observations are well informed - the billions of dollars spent on the war machine and the science of destruction, and how governments have satellites and can see all the suffering going on in the world and still the human suffering persists - but then she contrasts that with philosophical questions like do the poor believe it is their destiny to be poor. She keeps saying she's a 40 year old woman and a 40 year old mother to a 13 year old girl. There seems to be a tension in the mother-daughter relationship which remains unresolved if it's a longing for her youth or difficulty in accepting ageing, though 40 is not old at all. The most interesting parts are when she questions gender roles such as why society frowns upon women expressing anger, or women giving up their careers for a relationship with a man, her questioning about being an actress, her fear of loneliness and her hope of falling in love again. The description of the scenes she directed of an old couple and the memories of her grandmother (river flow) are exquisite.There's also a lot about her romantic relationship with this man called Abel; she describes beautifully the ending of their relationship.… (meer)

There's a passage towards the end of the book in which Liv Ullmann is listening to music late in the afternoon on day 18 of shooting 'Face to Face (1976). Ingmar Bergman stops by and says "I feel like I'm in a train running through time. It's very strange." This line captures the sentiment of this book well, how her life unfolded in time up to that point and how everything else was unfolding simultaneously. The structure of the book written in a non-linear objectively way goes back and forth through time. Memories and current events intersect in the narrative. She writes about a lot from the faint memories of her father, grandmother, dinner with an uncle to the women´s pay gap and gender biases (the women's movements were happening at the time) to landscapes, love, breakups, heartache, success, fame, theater, Hollywood, books, etc but at the core is her experience of motherhood as a single mother and being the lead actress in so many of Ingmar Bergman's films and her five year relationship with him. She's very aware that she is an internationally famous actress and there are name drops and privilege but she has a distinctive voice.… (meer)