A Mulher que Vendeu a Alma

I first caught this on TCM, then had to get the VHS tape. I was impressed by the role as Bergman as a tough who dominated a band of blackmailers. She was impressive in her bitterness, and, even though I don't understand Swedish her anger and self-pity came through very well.

The characteristic of people (anger+self-pity) is so common I appreciated how this was dealt with openly by the film and conveyed by Bergman. The doctor let her know that many warriors suffered as much or more without the woe-is-me attitude.

Something about her self-conscious placement of her hand over her face was very touching. From the doctor's analytic view he wasn't repulsed, but when he could see her facial scars were a source of her bitterness he resolved to change her appearance. The doctor didn't pull any punches though with a private challenge to her before the bandages came off.

And Bergman showed her ability to convey the fight against self pity when she harangued her little charge with a nasty rant of how she never got toys as a child. The boy's unaffected love, and need for love, was a sweet challenge and impetus to our struggling lady's emerging ability to turn outward.

To me, this portrayal of human growth and overcoming of life obstacles was nicely done. You will either feel for the disfigured woman or you will not. But her plight is universal.

This film, which was the original 1938 Swedish version of A WOMAN'S FACE (1941) later popularized by Joan Crawford at MGM. This original version made its US TV debut on Turner Classic Movies this past Friday night. Ingrid Bergman, before she came to America, is the lead as Anna Holm, a scarred black mailer who undergoes plastic surgery that changes her path and outlook on life. It's kind of hard to know if the acting is brilliant or not since it is all in Swedish with English subtitles, but the film holds your interest. It is different in many ways than the 1941 version, but also similar in others. Bergman's performance is comparable to Crawford's, but Bergman's disfigurement is more brutally realistic as are the stark atmosphere and settings in this version; MGM gave their version the usual glamour treatment. Overall, the film deserves 3 out of 4 stars and it's wonderful to finally see this on American TV.

There were two reasons for seeing this Swedish version of 'A Woman's Face'. Absolutely love Ingrid Bergman, a beautiful woman and a very expressive actress that shows in so many of her performances. Another was to see how it would compare to the Joan Crawford film from three years later. Have also always loved and been fascinated by foreign films and there are so many great to masterpiece Swedish films, namely by one of cinema's greatest directors Ingmar Bergman.

Comparing the two versions of 'A Woman's Face', both of them are very good in their own way. Don't overall one version is better or worse than the other, even if one version does things better than the other version. The Crawford film had the better supporting cast (nobody here does acting equal to or better than Conrad Veidt), ending and direction. While Bergman's got going quicker and there is a slight personal preference for the more subtle while a touch more intense tone, her more brutal-looking disfigurement and the starker, which really worked for the atmosphere, production values (though the Crawford film looked wonderful still in its own way). Comparing Crawford and Bergman, they are completely different approaches but both embody their roles and are about equal again in their own way.

Excepting Anders Henrikksen and Tore Svennberg, who were both empathetic and gave all they got, for me the supporting cast didn't stand out really and that did hurt the film a bit. Do agree with another commentator that George Rydeberg was very bland and his character underdeveloped.

Felt that the film felt slightly too short perhaps too.

Loved though the comparitively stark but also atmospherically effective production values, the landscapes not as beautiful but just as foreboding. It suited the dark story very well. The film is strongly directed too, keeping things taut, the atmosphere tense enough and not letting the film get too melodramatic. The pace isn't too leisurely at the beginning and the story stays compelling up to the ending, which is one that is hard to forget, and nails the atmosphere, which is dark and subtly tense yet with an emotional core. The script provokes thought and felt very honest, liked too that it doesn't ramble or feel over-literal.

As with Crawford's version, the lead character is initially reprehensible with her embittered personality, yet with the change of heart it is hard to not feel a degree of empathy. Her disfigurement is brutal and disturbing, more so in my opinion than Crawford's. The portrayal of anger and self-pity was handled very honestly and with great candour, something that will be relatable today, this was handled better in this version. 'A Woman's Face' however is Bergman's film, twenty three years old and the intensity, embittered self-pity, pathos, honesty and nuance she brings to her role is suggestive of her having acted for years before.

In conclusion, very good film with an awful lot to recommend. 8/10

A few years ago I had the opportunity to see the two versions back to back on a big(ish) screen. It was a little film festival at Scandanvia House in NYC. They showed the original Swedish film first followed by the Hollywood monstrosity. There is just no comparison. Bergman is subtle and intense while Crawford is just Crawford. Don't get me wrong, JC was an amazing animal, but I would never call her a disciplined actor. She's all instinct and big, bold strokes. She's like an impressionist painting. You have to step back to see it. Up close it's just an ugly mess. Bergman, on the other hand, is like that Fragonard painting of the girl on the swing, with all the detail, depth and color. Each time you look at it, you see something different that you missed the last time.

Disfigured Ingrid Bergman is a member of a blackmail ring. When getting the payoff of one of their "clients", she is caught by the woman's husband, a doctor, who performs plastic surgery on her and leaves her looking like.... well, like Ingrid Bergman. However, the ring's newest scam is on. The wastrel nephew of a rich man wants his own six-year-old nephew knocked off, and the gang agrees to do so for money down and a quarter of the inheritance. Miss Bergman takes the job, but with a new face comes a new her....

It's a bravura performance, just the sort that actors love, and Miss Bergman, only 23 years old, is up to the challenge, as she gradually changes. None of the other younger actors are up to her level; they all seem strident and melodramatic in comparison to her. Anders Henrikson, as the compassionate doctor, is the only actor who seems at her level, and their scenes together raise this from an improbable melodrama to high art.

It was her last film with Gustaf Molander, and by the following year, she was in Hollywood, remaking INTERMEZZO for Selznick. MGM would buy the rights to this story and remake it poorly with Joan Crawford in the lead role.