Review of the film "Bergman's Island" - a cinephil melodrama about the throes of creativity
A charming festival novelty that has remained in the shadow of the blockbusters about Spider-Man and The Matrix.
A couple of filmmakers, Tony (Tim Roth) and Chris (Vicki Kripps), come to Foreo Island - the great Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman once worked, lived and died here. This place looks like a huge amusement park for cinephiles: they can go to the cemetery where the classic is buried, sit in his office or take part in the Bergman safari - a small tour during which the guide will tell interesting facts about how the director filmed outstanding movies. In short, what is not an ideal place to write a new script?
Tony finishes his own with inspiration (judging by the picturesque sketches in the margins, it should turn out to be an erotic thriller with elements of BDSM), but Chris is doing so-so. She doubts, misses the little daughter left at home and grinds out an idea, which she eventually shares with an uninterested Tony. Then the second film begins on the screen - "White Dress", in which a young director Amy (Mia Wasikowska) arrives on the same island of Foreo. Here, at a friend's wedding, she again meets her first love (Anders Danielsen Lie).
"Bergman's Island" looks great as an independent melodrama that does not require any prior knowledge, but it really reveals itself thanks to the context. Even if you are not familiar with the work of Ingmar Bergman, you will guess from the film that he is a prolific and influential author, whose house is constantly visited by cinephile pilgrims. On the other hand, without this knowledge, you will not understand several ironic or, conversely, dramatic plot details: for example, Tony tells Chris that no one expects from her film "the next" Person ", they themselves sleep in the same bedroom as the heroes of Scenes of Married Life, and they also plan to watch some light or comedy film by the maestro from the tape, but in the end they suffer from Whispers and Shouts. It's the same with the personality of the director Mia Hansen-Loewe: you don't have to know that she herself was in a relationship with the eminent director Olivier Assayas and is also raising a daughter from him, but these biographical details make you look at something very personal in a new way. film.
The shadow of the titan of world cinema hanging over the island and the success of her husband (who was invited to conduct a master class) plunges Chris into a state of creative crisis: she is trying to cope with the writing block and self-doubts as an author independent from Tony. Here the island of Foro and the personality of Bergman come to the fore - probably, in the hands of another director, this plot would turn into a boring homage to a genius. For example, the film could have entered Bergman's territory of tedious family breakdown (this is even hinted at when Chris escapes from the master class and goes on a small trip around the island with a young student) or, conversely, it would become a very straightforward tribute in which Bergman's work would restore the heroine's faith in herself.
However, Mia Hansen-Loewe acts differently: she enters into a small controversy with Bergman - the matter, of course, does not come to revision of his work, rather the question is raised about the distinction between family life and work, typical for "artists" of the past. Chris is surprised that the Swede had nine children from six women, while he practically did not participate in their upbringing. In response, she hears only the justifying “well, he made 50 films, and also staged performances in the theater.” Here there is a basis for reasoning about gender stereotypes, expectations and that Tony's remark about the next "Person" refers not even to the heroine herself, but in general to women directors. But it is better to dwell on a much more unambiguous idea: for Hansen-Loewe / Chris, the creative motivation is not Bergman's alienation, unsociability and self-reflection, but relationships with other people - whether it be the joy of the arrival of his daughter or the memories of true love.
The latter form the basis of White Dress, a film in a film that looks like a Sundance, Richard Linklater-inspired melodrama about a short novel. The stories of the two couples run in parallel, alternately enriching the narrative with reflections on the creative process and the boundary between creativity and personal life. At some point, they will intersect (in the second story, the same student will appear), and then they will finally collide - the line will be blurred not only between the two pictures, but also between our reality and fiction. This meta-twist in words seems like another success of the film and Hansen-Loewe, but in reality it lacks ambition and experimentation. Like Chris / Amy, the viewer is left without a clear ending - instead of a confident bold point, the director leaves us with a somewhat cowardly, but life-affirming ellipsis.
This article was sponsored by Mitra Khobbakht
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