Bergman Island: Neon NZ Review

Cast: Tim Roth, Vicky Krieps, MiaWasikowska
Director: Mia Hansen-Løve

Possibly one for cinephiles and fans of the Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, Bergman Island concerns itself with two writers Tony and Chris (Roth and Krieps) who head to Fårö island on a retreat and to finish their respective screenplays.

Tony is inspired by the island, as an admirer of Bergman, but Chris struggles to reconcile her dispassion for Bergman's styles and also her differing writing style. While the two head to the island together, they begin to drift apart as the differences become more stark.

Bergman Island is one of those films that deals with the meta the further in it goes, and whilst it's also its twist, it's also its weakness.

Predominantly as the film only really comes alive in the second half when it retreats into its second stoty, with the liveliness of the back half of the film serving to demonstrate how introverted and introspective the narrative had become.

In truth, Krieps and Roth are perfectly fine in the roles, but the characters are so self-obsessed and self-absorbed it makes it hard to ultimately care about their relative issues. There's a discussion really at a deeper level about the insecurities of life the longer the film goes, but Hansen-Løve doesn't seem to set much stock by the discussion other than the once over raising of the problem and then moving on.

Ultimately, Bergman Island is fine, but its subtleties are not as existent as they could be - and its pitch as a lightweight comedy is somewhat misplaced - it's an introspective drama that spends a little too long navel-gazing.