ctively communicate with her – she speaks to the actress enthusiastically, but the actress does not answer back – it is only Elizabeth's face that Alma is able to study. When, early in the film, the psychologist who has assigned Alma to Elizabeth asks for the nurse's opinion on the actress's state, she responds that her face has a very "severe" look – even though she has a childlike expression on her face. Still, it is clear to Alma, despite her reading of Elisabeth's face, that there is nothing actually wrong with the actress from a physical or psychological standpoint. She is not speaking simply because she does not want to.
             At this point in the film, the psychologist offers to allow Alma and Elisabeth to occupy her summerhouse as a means of easing the patient's recuperation from her mysterious illness. It is here that the dichotomy between Alma and Elisabeth is able to grow, becoming the focal point of the story. Elisabeth is completely limited by her surface – she is nothing more than a face. Having realized this, she has withdrawn from the world and can no longer engage in her chosen profession – acting – which is built on expressiveness. She no longer knows how to express emotion to the most traumatic events, as becomes clear in one scene when she is seen studying the faces of Holocaust victims on television.
             Alma, on the other hand, resembles the exact opposite. It is no coincidence that Alma's name is Spanish for "soul." She talks incessantly about her life, until she begins to reveal the most intimate details to Elisabeth, effectively blurring the line that is meant to separate nurse from patient.
             This dichotomy seems ideal at first – the soulful, talkative nurse and the withdrawn, silent patient. The two take long walks with one another, spend time in the sun, and read. A sense of intimacy is fostered – de...