‘Bergman Island’

A thoughtful and captivating character-driven film within a film within a film set as two married filmmakers travel to Fårö, the island home and inspiration for many of Ingmar Bergman’s features.

Arriving on the island as a guest of the Bergman Society, acclaimed film director Tony (Tim Roth) finds his time increasingly in demand to attend screenings and talks around the island. With more time to herself, wife Chris (Vicky Krieps) looks for inspiration for her latest script. As Tony attends the more official aspects of everything Bergman, so Chris immerses herself in the ever present spirit of the renowned director – with the ideas within her evolving script taking centre stage of Bergman Island. Reality and fiction blur unexpectedly as Mia Wasikowska and her thwarted love for Anders Danielsen Lie becomes the central narrative.

A slow burn of a feature that slowly creeps up on the viewer, Bergman Island is very much director Mia Hansen-Løve’s homage to Bergman himself and the seriousness in which he approached the exploration of relationships within his films (and personal life). Layer upon layer is applied that draws the viewer into a narrative of wistful nostalgia.

Rating: 74%

Director: Mia Hansen-Løve (Father of My Children, Things to Come)

Writer: Mia Hansen-Løve (Father of My Children, Things to Come)

Main cast: Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread, Old), Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction, Luce), Mia Wasikowska (Judy and Punch, Stoker), Anders Danielsen Lie (The Worst Person in the World, Oslo August 31st)

’As It Is In Heaven’ (Så som i himmelen)

Ill-health forces a world-famous conductor to retire from the public eye. Arrogant and a loner, he returns to the small village of his childhood where he was mercilessly bullied.

Having collapsed on stage, Daniel Daréus (Michael Nyqvist) reluctantly takes medical advice and retires to the distant north of Sweden and a small, remote village. Having changed his name following the death of his mother, Daréus is known only by current fame, not by any historical link. Asked to help with the choir, his reserve is slowly overcome by their determination. As the choir improves, Daréus falls for Lena (Frida Hallgren) and his standing in the village increases. But the local Pastor (Niklas Falk) struggles with the shift.

A feel good feature with its sense of purity and redemption, As It Is In Heaven is a sensitively told narrative directed by Kay Pollak. But it is also something of an overly melodramatic, unsubtle, saccharine-sweet narrative that whilst touching, would have benefitted from a little more grittiness and raw emotion.

Nominated for best foreign language film Oscar in 2005.

Rating: 63%

Director: Kay Pollak (Heaven on Earth, Children’s Island)

Writer: Kay Pollak (Heaven on Earth, Children’s Island)

Main cast: Michael Nyqvist (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, John Wick), Frida Hallgren (Heaven on Earth, Sunny Side), Lennart Jähkel (Salmer fra kjøkkenet, Heaven on Earth)

‘Triangle of Sadness’

The 2022 Palme d’Or winning black comedy sees social hierarchy upended as a cruise for a select number of the super wealthy goes tragically wrong.

Superficiality reigns supreme in Ruben Östlund’s (The Square, Force Majeur) generally unpleasant Triangle of Sadness with its three chapter narrative. Model/social media influencer Yaya (Charlbi Dean – Don’t Sleep, Spud) is a guest of the cruise along with boyfriend Carl (Harris Dickinson – Beach Rats, Where the Crawdads Sing) – the tension between the two is replicated on a cruise where every whim is indulged. A storm at sea and an alcoholic, unhinged captain (Woody Harrelson – Midway, Natural Born Killers) results in the boat sinking – with only a few of the crew and passengers surviving. Cleaning lady Abigail (Dolly De Leon – Historya ni Ha, TV’s Nine Perfect Strangers) is one – and the only practical survivor among them.

Occasional moments of brilliance balanced by occasional moments of distinct, confronting discomfort are sadly swamped in an increasingly absurd narrative that becomes increasingly tedious. Satire may be the object, but it’s told with the subtly of a sledgehammer.

Nominated for 3 Oscars in 2023 (best film, director, original script).

Rating: 58%

‘The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest’

The third and final film in the Millenium Trilogy sees Lisabeth Salander on trial for murder – with the State looking for her incarceration in a psychiatric unit.

Badly injured following the confrontation with her father and (new to her) stepbrother, Niedermann (Micke Spreitz – Barking Mad, Unchained), Salander recovers in a Goteburg hospital whilst Blomkvist continues to unearth the level of conspiracy prevalent in the Swedish governing system. With Blomkvist’s sister Annika (Annika Hallin – Margrete: Queen of the North, TV’s Agent Hamilton) representing her, Salander has her day in court as the true level of childhood abuse is shockingly revealed.

Somewhat episodic with loose ends tied, director Daniel Alfredson neatly closes off the Salander case. Whilst a pleasing David vs Goliath court drama finds a level of justice, a lack of depth in the reveal of the story pervades. Considering all three films/books are entitled The Girl Who…, it’s surprising in terms of screen time Elisabeth Salander plays second fiddle to Blomkvist. It’s the psychological suffering at the hands of men abusing power that is the core of the Larsson’s books. The films capture the endemic nature without fully exploring the full impact on individuals.

Rating: 60%

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Part I)

The Girl Who Played With Fire (Part II)

‘The Girl Who Played With Fire’

And so to the second in the Millenium Trilogy as Lisbeth Salander now finds herself the target of the same individuals and authorities she’s spent most of her adult life fighting against.

One year on from the first film, Mikael Blomkvist is investigating sex trafficking in Sweden involving high ranking members of the establishment. Though overseas, he and Salander remain closely linked through her hacking skills. Blomkvist’s investigations unearth more and more, revealing a secret department within the government unknown to the ruling parties of the time. Salander’s incarceration as a child is connected. She returns to Stockholm to find her stepfather, Zalachenko (Georgi Staykov – See You in Montevideo, Code Red) alive and protected by the system that should have protected her. She sets out for her personal revenge.

Directed by Daniel Alfredson (Intrigo, Kidnapping Mr Heinekin), The Girl Who Played With Fire plays out as a straightforward tension-filled thriller – less psychological than the first part with more direct action. The action carries you with it – although, as part two in a trilogy, there’s no avoiding the ‘to be continued’ ending (unlike the stand alone The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo). Moments of a more reflective nature would have benefitted the narrative and greater understanding of the motivations of Lisbeth Salander.

Rating: 55%

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Part I)

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (Part III)

‘The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’

The original, Swedish language version of Stieg Larsson’s book sees the introduction of the very individual super-hacker Lisbeth Salander to the world and to a recently disgraced journalist in particular.

As independent journalist and publisher Mikael Blomkvist (Micheal Nyqvist – John Wick, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol) loses his court case for libel against billionaire Wennerström, so wealthy industrialist Henrik Vanger (Sven-Bertil Taube – Puppet on a Chain, Händerna) reaches out to him. The offer is to help Vanger investigate the 40-year-old disappearance and presumed murder of his grandniece, 16-year-old Harriet. He suspects a member of his extended dysfunctional family. In return, the old man will not only pay Blomkvist handsomely, but provide information to prove Wennerström is indeed corrupt.

Obsession on the tiny island of Hedeby follows as Blomkvist immerses himself in the investigation, helped unexpectedly by Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace – Prometheus, The Drop) who becomes involved almost by accident. Her own experiences and that of the investigation mirror each other as misogyny and violence towards women consistently and continually dominate the narrative.

It’s an engaging, engrossing and occasionally challenging feature from director Niels Arden Oplev (Rose, Held For Ransom) as the deeply abused, asocial antihero Lisbeth wins hearts and minds of audiences in her personal struggle against the authorities.

Rating: 64%

The Girl Who Played With Fire (Part II)

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (Part III)

‘The Virgin Spring’

Formal yet timeless, an innocent, spoiled teenage girl sets out with her pregnant servant to deliver candles to church. But only one returns to the remote homestead.

In 14th-century Sweden, the indulged Karin (Birgitta Pettersson – Pojken i trädet, Salka Valka) insists on wearing her best finery to travel the 5 kms to the village. Accompanied by the jealous Ingeri (Gunnel Lindblom – The Seventh Seal, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), they meet three goatherds who rape and kill Karin. The three men continue on their way where, by chance, they find themselves at the girl’s home and the guests of her father, Töre (Max von Sydow – Pelle the Conqueror, The Seventh Seal). On discovering what happened, he plans a terrible revenge.

Influenced by Kurosawa’s Rashomon, Ingmar Bergman’s (Wild Strawberries, Face To Face) classic interweaves morality and faith, humanity and atonement in this compelling if dour drama moodily shot in black and white.

Nominated for 2 Oscars in 1961 including best costume, won 1 for best foreign language film.

Rating: 71%

‘Wild Strawberries’

Richly and poignantly observed, Wild Strawberries is a coming-of-age slow burn as the widowed professor reflects upon an emotionally austere life.

A cold demeanour has seen Dr. Eberhard Isak Borg (Victor Sjöström – To Joy, Order) isolated from the world around him with only his housekeeper Agda (Jullan Kindahl – Smiles of a Summer Night, Bröllopsdagen) for company. But on being offered a honorary degree in his home town of Lund, a decision to drive rather than fly results in nostalgic reflection, helped by his travelling companion, daughter-in-law Marianne (Ingrid Thulin – Cries and Whispers, The Cassandra Crossing) and three hitchhikers they pick up on the way.

Writer/director Ingmar Bergman’s (Fanny & Alexander, Face to Face) nostalgic road trip with memory of missed love and a recurring dream with deeply disturbing surrealist imagery is earnest in its explorations yet engrossingly compelling.

Nominated for best original screenplay Oscar in 1960.

Rating:87%

‘And Then We Danced’

Set within the macho world of traditional Georgian dance with its feats of endurance and masculinity, And Then We Danced (directed by Levan Akin – Certain People, The Circle) subverts as Merab (an extraordinary Levan Gelbakhani) finds himself challenged by the arrival of potential rival, Irakli (Bachi Valishvili).

Passionate in its telling with glorious scenes in the rehearsal room, And Then We Danced is a powerful coming-of-age drama. Linked with Mary both personally and as a dance partner for many years and on the brink of joining the National State Dance company, a dormant sexuality is awoken within the extremely likeable Merab, putting his world entirely at risk.

A conventional narrative it may be, set within conservative Georgian society, but the heartwarming tale of And Then We Danced is one of personal rebellion and self identity with Merab finding unexpected support by a member of his family.

Rating: 73%

‘Searching for Sugar Man’

In the late 1990s, two South Africans set out to discover information about the legendary Rodriguez, an American folk singer who sold records in the hundreds of thousands during the apartheid era. Unlike most musicians of the 70s/80s where information was readily available, Rodriguez was barely known even by the local record label.

With extraordinary rumours circulating of Rodriguez having killed himself live on stage years earlier, Cape Town record shop owner Stephen ‘Sugar’ Segerman and music journalist Craig Bartholomew Strydom set out to find the truth. Their search reveals so much for Detroit-born Sixto Rodriguez, his family and record producers of the early albums that proved to be huge hits in South Africa.

In Searching for Sugar Man, director Malik Bendjelloul follows the standard documentary template of incorporating archival footage, interviews current and past along with its straightforward telling. And what a story as a man consigned to inexplicable obscurity following the release of two albums finds himself centre stage for the first time in his life.

Winner of the Oscar for best documentary in 2013.

Rating: 72%