Bergman Island

Along with Céline Sciamma (‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’), Mia Hansen-Løve is at the top of the list of best French female writer-directors, and her latest more than confirms her status. Tim Roth is Tony and Vicky Krieps is Chris, a filmmaking couple who’ve rented a place on the Swedish island of Fårö, the legendary setting for many of Ingmar Bergman’s films, in order to work on their respective screenplays. As cracks begin to appear in the couple’s otherwise seemingly solid relationship, Hansen-Løve makes an audacious leap: as Chris tells Tony the story she’s working on, the film appears onscreen with Mia Wasikowska (‘Only Lovers Left Alive’, ‘Stoker’) and Anders Danielsen Lie (‘The Worst Person in the World’) in the lead roles…

‘Hansen-Love doesn’t turn “Bergman Island” into a self-conscious philosophical puzzle. It unspools with an easy, fresh-air naturalism against a picturesque backdrop that doesn’t necessarily conform to anyone’s innermost imaginings. The mood, underscored by Robin Williamson’s sprightly music, is mainly comical, and the artists — Tony and Chris, at least — seem more playful than tormented… That may be because they both understand the paradox that “Bergman Island” so brilliantly enacts. It’s a movie that isn’t quite sure whether it wants to be one, or which one it wants to be. Which makes it feel like more than just a movie.’—A.O. Scott, The New York Times