Bergman Island Reviews

Really wonderful piece of work about the “artistic burden” and the trap of drawing from personal experience - blurring the line between fact and fiction.

It’s strange, Ingmar Bergman is mentioned in some regard in virtually every scene, not to mention the title! Yet, the film is really not about him or his work other than the essence that he often created, primarily those highlighting the destructive qualities of human and tragedies that result. I think part of it is avoiding the temptation to be obvious, not choosing black or white and the film explores that in a really wonderful way once it reaches the 2nd half.

Four big heavy hitters lead the cast here, and they all do a terrific job. Vicky Krieps leads it all, harnesses it, and of course she does so very well. I loved any scene where her and Tim Roth were together - both bringing such a naturalism to the whole film, allowing the tension between their two characters to be increasingly effective and really “un-cinematic”. Mia and Anders both get far less screen time, but don’t waste it, they’re fantastic and are a breath of fresh air as you get to the 3rd act.

I liked a lot of what was done here, the story within a story was great, I just wish it started a bit sooner and carried across more of the narrative.

I loved the main actress in Phantom Thread so enjoyed seeing her here. They also did a good job of threading another short story into the main plat in a cool way

It was too slow for my mood that evening.