A Ilha de Bergman

Beautiful movie in a history-filled location, though not much happens.

Interesting, well crafted and relatable main characters and refreshing storytelling. Lacks meaning and is not very emotionally engaging or exciting; still I do not think it ever gets boring since the story keeps moving albeit, as i said before, nothing hugely significant happens.

Captivating premise for cinephiles who want to know more about Bergman, the legendary Swedish director, and the island he used to live on.

6/10.

You need to be at a real ease to keep following. Nice atmosphere here and there, yet like Father of my children, it feels something missing.... it is not well held together... it feels it has been thought of in bits and pieces... making an effort to appear artsy.... it does has its moments , some clever dialogues and situation... yet something feels missing.. as astory.

There's an island where a maestro spent his days, Chris and Tony take some time and go and stay, it's not the most magnetic marriage, a slightly disaffected carriage, but they're there to draft stories, for their screenplays. As the days pass they absorb the auteur's land, while Tony forges on with all he's planned, but Chris struggles with her craft, until she outlines her first draft, that recalibrates into, a future land.

A thoughtful piece of cinema, as stories entwine and timelines are confused, on an island where many of the greatest were formulated and filmed. Brilliant if you're a Bergman fan, perhaps a bit too obscure if you're not.

Bergman Island: The eponymous island (named Fårö ) is where Bergman filmed many of his great works, not least of which was Scenes From A Marriage; you can even rent the house where it was filmed and sleep in the actual bedroom which featured in it. Chris (Vicky Krieps) and Tony (Tim Roth) do just that, both are filmmakers, Tony being the more famous of the two, his films are being screened by the Bergman Foundation and he;s giving Master Classes. He's also working on his new film as is Chris on the script for hers. Their relationship has troubles right out of a Bergman film. The screenplay Chris is working on reflects some of those very problems. The scenario comes to life as a film within a film, Amy (Mia Wasikowska) an American film director arrives on Fårö for the marriage of an old friend, also there is her first love, Joe (Anders Danielsen Lie), an affair starts up again.

Love, relationships and responsibilities are explored in this film as it goes meta, eventually blending fact with fiction. Bergman himself is an inspiration to both Chris and Tony but respect his work ethic is somewhat tempered by an examination of his personal life. Bergman had nine children by six different women but played little part in their upbringing. Chris has problems with this but it is argued by others that he wouldn't have made 60 films, directed numerous plays and become artistic director of five theatres if he had domestic duties. Chris reflects that it would be impossible for her (or any female director) to have nine children and carry on with her career. Not just a homage to Bergman, here he is warts and all but this is a film he might well have been happy to direct. Written and Directed by Mia Hansen-Løve. 8/10.

A nifty meta-infused drama about the blurred boundary between the creative process and the life of the creator.

Vicky Krieps is the not very happy heroine at the center of the film, a filmmaker married to another filmmaker (Tim Roth) who has an Ingmar Bergman obsession. They are staying at a Swedish retreat devoted to honoring the film giant's legacy, because what could be more fun than going on a Bergman safari, which is an actual thing, and where they hilariously play Bergman movies on the tour bus. Put "Cries and Whispers" on for your kids on your next road trip and see how far that gets you.

In the grand tradition of artistic couples, Roth is self absorbed and kind of an ass. He's half-heartedly supportive of his wife's latest and stalled project, a movie within a movie that we get to see played out for us as Krieps explains it to Roth. Mia Wasikowska plays the heroine of Krieps's film, a version of herself dealing with the feelings generated by a lingering love affair. Though Wasikowska is also an actual person on Krieps's film crew, and as you can imagine, the film remains pretty vague about how much of what we see actually happens vs. How much is part of the fiction Krieps creates for her movie. Though it doesn't really matter, since either way we get a crystal clear idea of what's going on in Krieps's head. If you are the kind of person who likes to be very clear about what is happening in a movie at any given point in its running time, you will hate this film.

I for one really enjoyed the way this movie played around with time and fluidly moved back and forth between fiction and reality. And Krieps and Wasikowska both give great performances.

Grade: A.