Monday Muses: Liv Ullmann

Mondays are rough... let's just get that truth out of the way, shall we?  I've been thinking of ways to train myself to feel otherwise but it's pretty difficult.  For me doing little things to make the day more enjoyable is the key, really.  Treating yourself to a nice lunch, finding a new-to-you band or playlist to listen to, taking 10 minutes to catch up on your favorite blogs, better yet, taking yourself out for a Monday night movie -  do these things and you'll soon start to see the potential of Mondays, I promise.

More than most any other day, Mondays are in desperate need of some inspiration. With that in mind, I am starting a series of Monday posts to jumpstart our creative brains and fill our eyeballs with inspiring and beautiful images, clips and people.  To start “Monday Muses”, weekly posts featuring talented women who have acted as muse for their equally talented collaborators.  First up, Scandinavian film star, Liv Ullmann.

I've been watching a lot of Swedish films lately - trying (probably in vein) to get any sort of grasp on my ancestral language.  Most recently I watched the Ingmar Bergman film, "Persona" which stars today's muse.  For those of you unfamiliar, Liv Ullmann is a Norwegian actress / director best known for her work with Bergman. They made 10 films together and, though they were never married, they were involved romantically and had a child together.  I’d seen “Scenes from a Marriage” quite a while back which I liked but her performance in “Persona” is really incredible - especially considering she plays an actress who one day suddenly stops talking.  She has such a mesmerizing face that conveys so much to the audience without the need for words.  In the US you don't hear too much about Liv which is why I wanted to devote a post to her.

 

Suggested screenings: PERSONA & SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE - proceed with caution on that last one as the divorce rate in Sweden reportedly doubled the year it was released! ;) Both are strange but beautiful films and Liv is incredible in them.