Bergman Island (2022)

Mia Hanson-Love’s seventh full-length film isn’t simply a two-hour homage to the films of Ingmar Bergman as some might expect it to be from the films’ synopsis. Tim Roth’s film director Tony and his wife Chris (Vicky Krieps) travel to the island of Faro, (where Bergman lived and filmed many of his films) to gain inspiration for separate screenplays that they’re both in the process of writing. Although Tony is an avid Bergman fan, Chris’ opinion of the director is skewered by his personal failings as well as his treatment of women; a difference of mind that slowly begins to eat away at the couples’ relationship during their stay. The line between fiction and reality begins to blur around halfway through, when Chris begins to explain the plot of her screenplay to Tony, and we enter a film within a film; with Mia Wasikowska and Anders Danielson Lee (you might recognise him from last years’ excellent The Worst Person in the World) taking on the roles of Chris’ leading characters. Somewhat unexpectedly, and despite the spectre of Bergman hanging over the film, Bergman Island doesn’t play out like one of his own films at all. Of course there are plenty of references to his canon, and much of the talk between characters discusses the infamous director, but Love has produced something rather fantastic here; an excellent character study of a couple wrapped up inside another one that is thoroughly engaging, beautifully filmed, and it remains thought provoking until its rather brilliant final scene. 8.2/10