Brink of Life pursues Bergman's fascination with the inner lives of women to a maternity ward where three women await the blessed event with mixed attitudes-and fates. Only an unwed teenager who has tried to abort the dreaded newcomer finds herself heading toward a healthy delivery. The film won awards at Cannes not only for the director (his third in a row) but for the actresses-Ingrid Thulin, Eva Dahlbeck, and Bibi Andersson-whose ensemble work is impressive. The acting holds the charge, and the camera knows it, in this film that is simple in focus, and more clinical than cynical. Not your basic Bergman.