Bergman Island review: Mia Hansen-Løve’s film is yet another page in her catalogue of impressive romantic films

3.5/5

Story:

Chris Sanders (Vicky Krieps) and Tony Sanders (Tim Roth), two filmmakers arriving at Fårö Island, seek inspiration for their screenplay. With Chris narrating her film’s story, Bergman Island transforms into a whole different movie, which talks about a complicated relationship and a love story that was not to be.

Review:

Walking down the pristine sandy shores of the different beaches of Fårö Island sounds like a neat vacation plan. However, with the island being a place where the legendary Ingmar Begman shot six of his films and was laid to rest, fans of his work would know that things could get tricky.

Bergman Island is the latest leaf in filmmaker Mia Hansen-Løve’s catalogue of impressive romantic films. The film starts off with Chris Sanders (Vicky Krieps) and Tony Sanders (Tim Roth), two filmmakers arriving at Fårö Island, seeking inspiration for their screenplay. The idea of the island being where Begman spent a lot of years of his life is what attracts them there. They even stayed at the farmhouse where Bergman had his studio and also shot his film, Scenes From a Marriage. While the caretaker describes the Bergman classic as “the movie that caused millions of people to divorce”, this would be Hansen-Løve giving us the first hint at the deteriorating relationship of the married couple.

As the movie flows forward, that too at a pace where it feels like you are just another humble tourist on the Island where Bergman shot his films, it keeps exploring the relationship of the married couple. Soon enough, we see Chris ditching Tony and exploring the island on her own. Her rested enthusiasm and search to find inspiration leads her to exploring the island with a local, Hampus (Hampus Nordenson). The beauty of the island where Bergman concocted some of his iconic films that mess with the mind is captured beautifully across these scenes.

The movie then takes a nose dive into the “movie within a movie” situation, as Chris tells her husband what she has written till now in hopes that he could help her find an ending. The screen is soon taken over by Chris’ character Amy (Mia Wasikowska), a filmmaker arriving at the Island to attend a friend’s wedding. However, she runs into a lover from her past and possibly the love of her life once again. The two have history, having been teenage lovers who try to reunite once again later. Though they are in other relationships, Amy starts feeling an old tingle, one that takes over the body and brain when you are with a special someone.

The two end up spending some quality time together on the island and get physical. However, the situation soon becomes complicated, though not to the levels at which some Berman films touched. When Joseph (Anders Danielsen Lie) leaves the island on short notice, Amy is heartbroken once again. It is where Chris’ story ends. In her search for an ending, she gets the chance to spend some time in Bergman’s estate where she falls asleep. When she wakes up, Bergman Island takes a turn for the better and with that, Hansen-Løve is able to deliver yet another romantic tale which is unpredictable.

The ending of the film is more proof that in recent years, female filmmakers have been successful in showcasing the complexities of love and relationships on screen better than their counterparts. The idea of “women write women better and women write men better” gets another candidate with Bergan Island. While she flawlessly manages to capture the emotions of a woman who is flawed for life because of love she can never have, she is also able to capture the tones and habits of men well in the movie.

Tim Roth plays the character of Tony with a certain amount of nonchalance. The character is a side of men that often fail to appear in other films helmed by men. Also what's impressive is how Chris is a critical thinker who finds the idea of people overlooking Bergman’s personal life as a problem. While “art vs the artist” still exists, things are put into better perspective when she says, “No woman would have been able to get away with that.”

Bergman Island is yet another film from the director that iterates the idea of how things could seem like one thing while being a whole different thing. In the case of this movie, be it the relationship of the couple or what Chris feels inside of her. The movie, which could have become a lot complicated with all its endless possibilities of being a self portrait, is kept to a minimal by the director. While Bergman Island seamlessly transforms the lines between the movie and a movie within a movie, it also beautifully tells a numb love story, which was hinted at through subtle lines throughout its runtime.

Verdict:

Bergman Island is a romantic drama set in the beautiful Fårö Island, where Ingmar Bergman spent a large portion of his life. As like some of Bergman’s stories, the film also tells a story about complicated relationships. With seamlessly erasing the lines between reality and a movie within a movie, Mia Hansen-Løve concocts yet another film that is worth the watch, especially if you are a cinephile.