Ingrid Thulin Movies
Trained in ballet, Ingrid Thulin went on to study acting at the Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm. After several decorative film roles in the 1940s and early 1950s, she was cast in the American-financed production Foreign Intrigue opposite Robert Mitchum. Though nominally a leading lead, the depth of her acting skills remained untapped until she began working under the direction of Ingmar Bergman, first on the stage, and then in the classic Wild Strawberries (1957), in which she played the daughter-in-law. Thulin continued essaying cool-but-complex characterizations for Bergman, culminating with Cries and Whispers (1973), in which she was co-starred with Liv Ullmann and Harriet Andersson. She was also well served dramatically in Resnais' La Guerre Est Finie (1966) and Visconti's The Damned (1968), cast in extensions of the foredoomed characters that she'd played for Bergman. In 1961, Thulin was cast in MGM's remake of Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, in which her dialogue was dubbed by Angela Lansbury. Though she could hardly be blamed if she chose to avoid future English-language productions following this demeaning experience, Ingrid went on to appear in Return from the Ashes (1965), Cassandra Crossing (1977), and the TV miniseries Moses the Lawgiver (1975; as Miriam)--with her own voice intact. Under the aegis of her husband, Swedish Film Institute cofounder Harry Schein, Ingrid Thulin directed the 1966 short subject Hangvelse, as well as the feature-length One and One (1978) and Brusten Himmel (1982). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1987
Fifteen strangers who have volunteered for an experiment in isolation are forced to deal with an even larger problem in this film from Italian director Giuliano Montaldo. A research group in Germany wants to study the effects of isolation in a nuclear shelter on human subjects and assembles a diverse group of people for the test. The strangers agree to stay in the shelter for 20 days, but are allowed to exit at any time. During their time in the shelter, the group experiences a wide range of social dynamics, but near the end of their stay in the shelter, it is learned that a real nuclear incident is underway and the test group will be forced to stay in their shelter indefinitely. Featured in the cast are Burt Lancaster, Ben Gazzara, and Kate Nelligan. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Lancaster, Kate Nelligan, (more)
- 1978
After years of ignoring the shy cousin whom she and her peers taunted mercilessly as a child, a middle-aged woman (Ingrid Thulin) wrenches the poor man (Erland Josephson) out of his self-chosen solitude to accompany her on a trip. Despite developments which deepen their knowledge of one another, the communication between them does not portend long-lasting intimacy. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Erland Josephson, Ingrid Thulin, (more)
Originally filmed for British television as a six-hour miniseries, Moses appeared in the U.S. in 1975 as a 2 1/2-hour theatrical release. God's lawgiver (Burt Lancaster) is chosen by God to deliver the Israelites out of Egypt, across the Red Sea and into the promised land of Canaan. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Lancaster, Anthony Quayle, (more)
- 1974
This Swedish film takes place in a wealthy household and unveils the erotic rivalry between an aristocratic but sterile wife (Ingrid Thulin) and her feisty and prolific maid-servant (Anita Ekstroem) as they compete over the affections of the husband (Ernst-Hugo Jaeregaard). Set in 1909, it also explores the frustrations the servant experiences in her attempts to get her real boyfriend to abandon his socialist principles and marry her. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1974
In this Italian film, the Communist Party rises above the abuses observed in Russia during the '30s. A dedicated party member is arrested for working with a man whose theories are suspect. She is sent to Siberia, but her faith is such that she waits out the end of the Stalinistic abuse of communism. After World War II she is deported but manages to rejoin her husband. Nonetheless, she is aware that the gulags are growing more crowded than ever before. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ingrid Thulin, Sergio Fantoni, (more)
- 1974
Despite having sponsored films by Ingmar Bergman, and many others, director Kenne Fant was subjected to an incredible amount of ad hominem abuse when he released this film. Fant, an actor and later a director, managed to offend many sensitive types during his chairmanship of the State Film Institute and of Svensk Filminsustri AB. The futuristic story concerns the persecution of a schoolteacher who commits the crime of encouraging his students to think for themselves and uses an example from physics to illustrate his point. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Erland Josephson, Harriet Andersson, (more)
- 1972
Cults of noteworthy psychological unhealthiness exist in and around most countries. This French/Swiss tragedy, based on a true story, tells of a cult originating in Catholicism, which believed that the Virgin Mary communicated with them through a nun's automatic writing. As internal tensions grow, the cult attempts to indoctrinate a young woman into receiving direct messages from the Virgin. When she cannot, they beat her to exorcise an imagined obstructing devil. This results in the girl's death. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Cries and Whispers stars Liv Ullman and Ingrid Thulin as the sisters of dying cancer patient Harriet Andersson. Both sisters have already had brushes with death: Ullman has had an affair which prompted her husband's suicide, while Thulin has long wanted to do away with herself, at one point mutilating her own vagina out of self-hatred. As for Andersson, she has been in pain so long that she feels as though she's in the midst of death-in-life. With her two sisters wrapped up in their own problems, Harriet turns to her housekeeper Kari Sylwan for comfort; Sylwan has herself suffered the death of a child, and has developed a philosophical attitude towards impending doom. One of the most influential moments of the film -- when two of the sisters share the innermost thoughts that they'd kept from one another for so many years -- is filmed without benefit of dialogue, with the music of Chopin (enhanced by cinematographer Sven Nykvist's carefully selected camera angles) "speaking" for the ladies. While Cries and Whispers only won the Oscar for cinematography, the film did very well for itself in international awards contests. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harriet Andersson, Kari Sylwan, (more)
- 1971
Science fiction often enables artists to explore social trends without being hindered by the limitations of current reality, and this Italian film does just that. It explores the meaning and consequences of the total automation of manufacturing. In this film, N.P. (Francesco Rabal) is an industrialist who has developed a technique for total automation. The powers-that-be have no intention of seeing this technique implemented by him, so he is kidnapped and deprived of his memory. He is then given into the care of a working-class family and develops a new identity in this new setting. He becomes a political activist, seeking a fair settlement for workers displaced by automation. This otherwise straightforward film has a surrealistic ending which may displease some viewers. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1971
- Add The Short Night of the Glass Dolls to QueueAdd The Short Night of the Glass Dolls to top of Queue
A man is found one morning in the bushes of a city plaza in Prague. He is taken to a hospital where the doctors confirm that, although his eyes are wide open, he is dead. There is no heartbeat or sign of life, except, strangely enough, his body temperature is normal. No matter, he's certified as dead and sent into cold storage to wait for an autopsy. "I'm alive," the man thinks, "can't you see I'm alive?" The man, Gregory (Jean Sorel), isn't dead but he's paralyzed and helpless to alert his condition to anyone. As the doctors prepare for the autopsy, Gregory thinks back to yesterday, when he was making plans to help his girlfriend (Barbara Bach) get out of the country. Gregory begins piecing together the mystery of what happened to him in fractured bits of memory -- but will solving the puzzle do him any good? ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
- 1969
The Ritual is an alternate English-language title for Ingmar Bergman's The Rite (Riten). Made for Swedish television in 1969, this short film was Bergman's revenge against those who opposed his management of the Royal Dramatic Theatre. The storyline involves three actors whose recent production has been judged obscene by the powers-that-be. Bergman deliberately obscures the "controversial" quality of the production itself, forcing the viewers to assess their own opinions over what is obscene and what isn't. Intending to shock and provoke his audience, Bergman was appalled that many viewers laughed at The Rite, misinterpreting it as a satirical comedy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ingrid Thulin, Anders Ek, (more)
- 1968
The Hour of the Wolf (original Swedish title: Vargtimmen) is Ingmar Bergman's spin on the demons that plague his fellow creative artists. Max von Sydow plays a painter who, while spending a summer in seclusion with his pregnant wife Liv Ullmann, is visited by bizarre and disturbing visions. Before long, Ullmann is also experiencing her husband's hallucinations; one of these, an old, faceless woman, advises Ullmann to read Von Sydow's diary. Doing so, Ullmann discovers that her husband has been cheating on her with Ingrid Thulin. In the subsequent domestic squabble, Von Sydow shoots and wounds his wife. The artist's punishment for this behavior is to have his lover, now dead, spring back to life and humiliate him in full view of Ullmann. Hour of the Wolf has something to say about the dangers of artists becoming too self-centered and self-involved; one hopes that most artists are not as thoroughly punished (or punishable) as Max Von Sydow. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liv Ullmann, Max von Sydow, (more)
- 1968
The mood of this film is a study of contrasts between sexual comedy and alcoholic hopelessness. A female chef with a voracious sexual appetite samples sex from the husband of an alcoholic wife. Drunken escapades ensue, including a young girl who makes love for the first time while her dead father lies in the same room. A bleak future is painted for the wasted drunks who live for the moment that could very well be their last, in this drama with dark comedic overtones. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ingrid Thulin, Halvar Björk, (more)
- 1968
A recently widowed woman in her early 40s receives a visit from a younger engineer. After the funeral of her husband, the two fall in love and marry. The woman's teenage daughter has eyes for her new stepfather and lets him know her attraction in no uncertain terms. Soon the man is sleeping with mother and daughter while mom keeps silent to keep peace on the home front. The daughter is soon courted by a young man with marriage on his mind, but he shoots the stepfather in a hunting accident. Mother and daughter care for him as he recovers from his wounds. When officials come to the house to give the engineer a coveted award, they leave when they see the house appears to be deserted. Sealed off from the outside world, the trio continues their unusual menage-a-trois, as mother and daughter vie for the man's affections. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ingrid Thulin, Jean Sorel, (more)
- 1968
This film is a social commentary about the mindless violence that is perpetuated on impressionable youth by television. Lorenz (Carla Gravina) has three young children who are victims of a media who wishes to turn out terrorists. She contends with her monstrous offspring and student revolts until she can't take it anymore. Lorenz takes matters into her own hands by planting a bomb in the factory of her estranged husband. The director attempts to illustrate the effect that Big Brother has on the lives of people and how they are subjected to behavioral conditioning beyond their control. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carla Gravina, Beba Loncar, (more)
- 1967
Ingrid Thulin plays the wife of the Swedish Ambassador of Greece. She becomes involved in a romantic triangle, to which you may ask "so what?" In this instance, however, the man who comes between husband and wife has a preference for the husband. Given this, Ingrid feels perfectly within her rights to go off on her own amours. Well...why are you still asking "so what?" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
On the night before his marriage, a young man and his fiancee return to the castle where he grew up to find out why he is impotent. In flashbacks, it is shown that his aristocratic mother indulged in nearly every sexual perversion known to man: orgies, incest, and so on. He and his fiancee blow up the castle, and she helps him begin a more normal life. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ingrid Thulin, Keve Hjelm, (more)
La Guerre est Finie represents one of the few "linear" films of French director Alain Resnais. Instead of indulging in his beloved flashbacks and flashforwards, Resnais sticks to a logical progression of events in relating this jaundiced tale of political activism. Yves Montand plays a tired, ageing revolutionary whose current target is Spain's Franco regime. Having become a familiar face to the authorities, Montand is no longer of any value as an undercover operative, yet he insists on leading a strike in Madrid. He is stopped from doing so by his fellow revolutionaries, who feel that Montand has become out of synch with the Movement. When Montand is finally able to complete his mission, everything goes wrong. Among the hero's "fellow" activists are Genevieve Bujold and Ingrid Thulin, both of whom harbor a romantic interest in Montand. The casual viewer might be surprised at the lack of action in the film, but favoring suspense over action is typical of Alain Resnais. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yves Montand, Ingrid Thulin, (more)
- 1965
Ingrid Thulin plays a Polish inmate of the Dachau concentration camp who is liberated at the end of the war. Presumed dead, Ingrid returns to visit her husband (Maximillian Schell) She finds that his grief was fleeting at best; his new mistress is his "deceased" wife's daughter (Samantha Eggar) from a previous marriage. Since Ingrid's identity is masked by plastic surgery, she subtly re-enters their life without undue stress for either husband or daughter. But when the husband figures out the ruse, he murders his young paramour in the bathtub (a moment lavishly exploited in the print ads for this film) and plots to kill Ingrid for her money. A textbook case of implausibility, Return from the Ashes was adapted from an equally unbelievable novel by Hubert Monteilhet. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maximilian Schell, Samantha Eggar, (more)
- 1964
The plot begins when six friends meet in a vacation home one rainy night and talk and talk and talk. Elaine (Ingrid Thulin) is a troubled author who has difficulty writing her next book. She takes to the bottle while trying desperately to keep the marriage to her second husband, Robert (Axel Strøbye), together. His affection for Elaine has waned, but he remains because he feels sorry for her teenage daughter, Rachel (Hanne Ulrich). Robert has an affair with Lena (Ghita Nørby), a woman seeking reassurance of her feminine power after her past two suitors turned homosexual. All six people are forced to spend the night together during a violent storm. Quite a few fine actors were lured into this pseudo-new wave nonsense directed by Annelise Hovmand and Johan Jacobsen -- veterans better known for folksy comedies and straight melodrama. They obviously thought they were doing a film like Bergman this time -- to the point of hiring Bergman-regular Ingrid Thulin, who must have been horrified when she saw the final script. The film was written by an advertising executive, if that's any explanation. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ingrid Thulin
- 1963
The third entry in Ingmar Bergman's trilogy about faith and redemption (with Through A Glass Darkly and Winter Light) is a stark and enigmatic allegory fueled by subtle performances from Ingrid Thulin and Gunnel Lindblom. Thulin plays Ester, a translator and intellectual, who is traveling back to Sweden on a train with her younger sister Anna (Linblom) and Anna's son Johan (Jorgen Lindstrom). They stop in the town of Timuku and check into an old hotel in a foreign land where the language cannot be understood by the three travelers. Ester, who suffers from a terminal lung disease, is very protective towards Anna; but Anna resents being tied down by her sickly sister, and she leaves the hotel room, picking up a waiter (Birger Malmsten in a nearby café. Returning to the hotel room, Anna tells Ester about her sexual encounter with the waiter, and Ester becomes sexually aroused. Anna leaves for another room in the hotel to continue making love with the waiter. Johan helps Ester track Anna down Anna, and Anna and the waiter proceed to make love a third time. This provokes a violent and biter argument between the two sisters. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ingrid Thulin, Gunnel Lindblom, (more)
- 1962
Director Mauro Bolognini and Goffredo Parise adapted a skillful Alberto Moravia story into this rather pedestrian drama. An eligible widow (Ingrid Thulin) vacations in Venice with her young son. When Thulin begins a tentative romance with friendly John Saxon, her resentful son runs away from home and gets into trouble, falling in with a gang of hooligans. The rest of the film is bland and predictable, as the harsh realities of street life teach the youngster some valuable lessons, most of which are hammered home with redundant narration. Plot mechanics aside, however, Aldo Tonti's rich cinematography still makes the film worthwhile for those who swoon at the sight of the Lido. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paolo Colombo, Ingrid Thulin, (more)
