Liv Strong

In a classic Peanuts strip, Lucy Van Pelt reveals that her baseball bat is autographed not by Mickey Mantle but by Liv Ullmann. With that shout-out to the Norwegian actress and her most frequent director, Ingmar Bergman, children everywhere began the journey down foreign cinema's thorny path to existential crisis. In a lecture titled "Morality, Art and Confession: Big Questions on the Big Screen," cultural pundit Thomas Hibbs will summon Bergman's spirit and discuss connections among the Swedish legend's last works, including 2003's Saraband, and the films of today. Art, morality, confession — you know, the oeuvre of Sandra Bullock. The talk, part of Rockhurst's Visiting Scholar Lecture Series, starts at 7:30 p.m. in Sedgwick Hall's Mabee Theater, on the Rockhurst campus (53rd Street and Troost). It's free and open to the public; call 816-501-4828 to register.
Wed., Oct. 21, 7:30 p.m., 2009