Bergman Island: Ingmar's Spirit Hangs Over Lovely Film about Relationships, Creativity

By Karen Gordon

Rating: B+

Some movies whisper and underplay their drama. That naturalism is part of what is so effective in writer/director Mia Hansen-Løve’s new film Bergman Island. It’s a lovely, intelligent movie that explores relationships, creativity, inspiration and the benefits of wrestling with the blank page.

Tim Roth and Vicky Krieps are Tony and Chris, a married couple and both filmmakers on their way to Sweden’s Fårö Island for the summer. They are guests of the Bergman Foundation, which continues to celebrate the life and work of writer-director Ingmar Bergman. 

They are to live in residence for the summer at Bergman’s spare, lovely house as they both work on screenplays for their next projects. One of the bedrooms was used in the film Scenes of a Marriage,  as one of their hosts wryly points out,  a film that caused “millions of people to divorce.”

Perfect for working… a very simple house… easy to live in.

The two claim their work spaces and settle in. Tony, who is the more successful of the two, is focused and productive. But Chris, who is much less confident, struggles. The work isn’t flowing. Still, the two have an easy-going, playful relationship, and they spend time together and apart exploring the island, working and, in Chris’s case, seeking inspiration. 

The mood on the island is quiet, but it buzzes with life. Tourists come to pay homage to Bergman, and to go on Bergman Safaris, visiting places significant to his work. 

For many filmmakers and movie fans, Fårö has a kind of mystical meaning. It’s where Bergman lived for a while and shot some of his movies. And his accomplishments and inspiration seem to hang over everything here.

One day on a walk, Chris asks Tony if she can talk through the film she’s working on. She’s stuck and is hoping he can give her some feedback. 

At this point, Bergman Island becomes a film within a film as we see the story that Chris is working on play out on the screen. She’s writing about two former lovers with a complicated past who come to  Fårõ to attend the wedding of mutual friends. Mia Wasikowska is her lead character Amy, a young filmmaker.  Joseph, her ex, is played by Anders Danielsen Lie.  

The two characters have been on and off since they were very young.  And although they haven’t seen each other in a while, coming together for this wedding reveals that what draws them together is still there. But to what extent?

The tone of Bergman Island is relaxed. As Chris works through the dilemma of her characters, is she pulling threads out of her own relationship and churning up dissatisfactions?  Do deep issues exist, or is what she’s exploring, imaginary, the by-product of a creative life, or part of her personal story?  

The film in many ways, touches on the connections between art and life. That artists use their work to work out personal issues.  And charmingly, for anyone who likes to write, it explores the inevitable period of wrestling with the blank page, and the benefits of pushing through to the finish.

There’s nothing really aggressive in the storytelling.  Mia Hansen-Løve keeps everything very subtle, letting us watch these two characters interact and reading what we will from what happens. 

She’s put a lot of that in the hands of her two wonderful leads, Vicky Krieps and Tim Roth are both subdued, and self-contained and their thoughtful performances convey more than meets the eye.  

The movie is easy and enjoyable to watch, and seems to be straightforward. But it continues to resonate after one leaves the theatre. 

Bergman Island. Written and directed by Mia Hansen-Løve. Starring Vicky Krieps, Tim Roth, Mia Wasikowska and Anders Daneilsen Lie. In select theatres October 15,and on VOD Friday, October 22.