Acclaimed actress Liv Ullmann is best known for her frequent collaborations with the internationally beloved and respected director Ingmar Bergman. The two had an amazing relationship — they were lovers for five years, and the actress appeared in over ten of his films over the course of four decades (and even directed one of his screenplays). While she’s appeared in numerous films directed by other auteurs (and has directed a new movie out this year: an adaptation of August Strindberg’s Miss Julie, starring Jessica Chastain), Ullmann is still best known for her incredible performances in Bergman’s films. Here are those movies available to stream online.
'Persona' (1966)
Ullmann plays an ailing actress, Elisabet Volger, who loses the ability to speak during a performance of Elektra. Sent to a beachside home to recuperate, a nurse named Alma (played by Bergman regular Bibi Andersson) takes care of her, keeping her company with stories of her own life. Soon, the two women begin to bond in peculiar ways, and their personalities slowly combine into one. [Where to stream Persona]
'The Passion of Anna' (1969)
Ullmann plays the titular Anna, who knee-deep into an emotional crisis (as are most of Bergman’s characters) following the deaths of her husband and son. After having an affair with a man whose marriage recently ended, Anna begins to break down and suffer from delusions while struggling to retain her zealous religious faith. [Where to stream The Passion of Anna]
'Cries and Whispers' (1972)
Ullmann and her co-stars Harriet Andersson and Ingrid Thulin play three sisters: Maria, Agnes, and Karin. Agnes, who is dying of cancer, is visited by her estranged sisters, who show a general lack of empathy for her plight. Through flashbacks (in which Ullmann plays the girls’ mother), Bergman reveals the complicated relationships between the three women and the emotional repression that is bubbling toward the surface. [Where to stream Cries and Whispers]
'Scenes From a Marriage' (1973)
Bergman gives us a look at the marriage between Marianne and Johan (Ullmann and her co-star Erland Josephnson) over the course of ten years, as they consider divorce and embark on their own extramarital affairs. Originally broadcast as a miniseries on Swedish television, it remains one of Bergman’s most beloved films that runs quite the emotional gamut. [Where to stream Scenes From a Marriage]
'Autumn Sonata' (1978)
Film icon Ingrid Bergman stars alongside Ullmann as a mother-daughter duo who have a strained relationship. Following the death of her partner, Charlotte (Bergman) visits her daughter Eva (Ullmann) in her country home where she lives with her minister husband and mentally handicapped sister. Long-repressed feelings make their way to the surface, and the pair’s relationship becomes even more frayed. [Where to stream Autumn Sonata]
'Saraband' (2003)
Ullmann and Erland Josephson reprise their Scenes From a Marriage roles and return as Marianne and Johan in Bergman’s final film. Three decades after their divorce, Marianne visits Johan for the first time in his summer home. Also staying with him are his son, Henrik, and Henrik’s daughter, Karin. The relationship between father and son is strained, as they both feel protective over Karin, and soon Marianne swept up in the familial drama she left behind decades ago. [Where to stream Saraband]
'Liv & Ingmar' (2012)
This documentary examines the decades-long relationship between writer/director Ingmar Bergman and his frequent collaborator (and lover) from the time they met on the set of Persona to his death in 2007. [Where to stream Liv & Ingmar]