Direction: Mia Hansen-Love
Country: France / Belgium / other
The excellent writing and directorial skills of Mia Hansen-Love (Father of My Children, 2009; Eden, 2014; Things to Come, 2016) are put in effect again in her latest drama, Bergman Island, a sensitive if knotted fiction that chronicles the ebb and flow in the relationship of a filmmaking couple visiting the island of Fårö in Sweden - home of the masterful director Ingmar Bergman for many years.
Leaving their daughter behind, Chris (Vicky Krieps) and the much older Tony (Tim Roth) try to keep up with work. Insecure about her ongoing script, she opts to decompress in the company of a young film student from Stockholm with whom she visits a few local places of interest. Conversely, the self-confident Tony is an accomplished filmmaker who, after giving a masterclass, experiences a boring touristic Bergman Safari. Moreover, she tells him everything about her work, whose narration he listens with indifference, whereas he is secretive about his. These aspects are indicative that the couple is gradually growing apart.
Hansen-Love manages to squeeze both honest emotion and romantic intrigue out of the plot’s provocative fuzziness. Immersed in its cinematic motivation and conducted from a feminine perspective, the story transcends linearity and jumps into the abstract when Chris discloses her script about a filmmaker called Amy (Mia Masikowsaka) who reunites with her long-time love interest (Anders Danielsen Lie) in Fårö, decades after their first affair.
The film doesn’t pursue sentimental paths. It’s all nuanced, carefully presented with duality - also an indispensable element in Bergman’s work - and it doesn’t really click at the first blush. However, after a while, this imaginative dance of characters and plot ambiguities produce the desired effect. It takes time to settle but it’s ultimately rewarding as you sense the pressure of having to go through a whole creative process, the volatility of romantic feelings and the shaky balance between family and professional duties. It’s all presented under the bright light that shines over this Baltic Sea island’s countrified landscapes.
