John Baker’s Blog

A nurse, Alma (Bibi Andersson), is caring for a famous actress, Elizabeth (Liv Ullman), who became dumb during a performance of Electra and has not spoken since. The doctor tells Elizabeth she is using her silence as a form of protest. The two women, Alma and Elizabeth, are loaned the use of the doctor’s seaside [...]

Pirandello’s assault on naturalism led to the discovery that the imitation of reality is not immediately distinguishable from the imitation of an imitation. He was fascinated by the interpenetration of appearance and reality, of face and mask. And he proclaimed the paradox that man is only able truly to be himself when wearing a [...]