Liv & Ingmar

This documentary covers the intimate relationship between two members of one of the greatest movie collaborations in film history: Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann and Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. Their connection lasted forty-two years until Bergman's death in 2007. They had also been romantically involved for six of those years. The film is a co-production of Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

Much of the film is narrated (in English) by Ullmann who was in her early seventies at the time. The references to the relationship is interjected with some of the Bergman/Ullmann films (in Swedish) in which it is apparent that the male actors were playing as a stand-in for Bergman.

Together, these two great artists made twelve movies together most of which were made during that magnificent period that began in the mid-1960s and continued through the 1970s. Their best works included "Cries and Whispers", "Scenes from a Marriage", "Face to Face", and "Persona". Calling these movies "art films" is definitely a compliment rather than an insult (as it is for many other cases).

Director Dheeraj Akolkar blends everything in this documentary beautifully: the old film clips, the use of music, using beautiful scenery of locations that reflect the past relationship, and mostly that of Ullmann herself as narrator and subject.

It's very challenging for one speaker to hold an audience's attention for so long. But Ullmann's soulfulness shows as much as a narrator and interviewee as it did during her great acting career. Her honest reflections on the various stages of a volatile relationship are riveting.

Alfred Lord Tennyson, in his poem In Memoriam said, "Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." Norwegian actress and director, Liv Ullmann, however, may take issue with that. Her thoughts about love and the painful loss of her relationship with acclaimed Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman are candidly revealed in the Norwegian documentary Liv & Ingmar. Directed by Dheeraj Akolkar and narrated by Ms. Ullmann who is now 73, the film spans the period from their initial meeting in 1964 when she was 25 and he was 47 to her eventual move to Hollywood and the Broadway stage.

Her granting of an interview with Akolkar was conducted in Bergman's house on the remote Faro Island in Sweden where they lived together for five years and bore a daughter, Linn. Exquisitely photographed by cinematographer Halvard Braein, the interview was strictly limited to two days at Liv's request. Separated into chapters entitled "Love," "Pain," "Loneliness," "Anger," Friendship" and "Rage," the film provides a glimpse into the high and low points of their life together, and she does not hold back on her memories of its hurt and pain. Interspersed with the interview are clips from her work in several of Bergmann's classic films including Persona, Cries and Whispers, Scenes from a Marriage, and The Passion of Anna.

Interestingly, the excerpts from the films seem to mirror events that occurred in their lives at the time of filming such as the monologues from The Hour of the Wolf and the turmoil expressed in Scenes from a Marriage. In addition to the film clips are backstage photos, readings from Ms. Ullmann's autobiography, Changing (1977), her letters to Bergman, his private letters to her, and excerpts from Bergman's memoir, "The Magic Lantern," read by Swedish actor Samuel Fröler.

As expected, Liv becomes very emotional when talking about Bergman and her eyes take on an inner glow when she recalls the moments she shared with him both as an actress, a lover, and a close friend. In addition to her experience of his great love, respect and understanding, however, according to Liv, there was a side to Bergman's personality that was less pleasant. Though she now recalls it with humor, she relates how he was capable of extreme jealousy and a vengeance that once exposed her and Max von Sydow to unbearable cold while making a film. Unfortunately, Mr. Bergman was not present to tell his version of the events, which may, in fact, have been very different.

Though the ardor of their love eventually cooled (they were both married at the time), their working relationship and ultimate close friendship lasted for forty two years. While the documentary can be a moving experience, its 83-minute length cannot help but skim the surface of many aspects of their life and career. Not mentioned are Bergman's five marriages and nine children, how Liv viewed Bergman's revelation of his youthful support of the Nazi cause, and the impact of his 1976 arrest on tax evasion that led to his nervous breakdown. There is also too little discussion of his talent as a director and the qualities in her eyes that made his films so masterful.

Regardless of its limitations, however, Liv & Ingmar is an absorbing and often poetic depiction of the love of two very different people who were able to transcend their own barriers and leave a legacy on film that was greater and perhaps more universal because of their relationship. Indispensable for admirers of their work, my hope is that this film may cause the Motion Picture Academy to finally recognize Liv Ullmann's talent

A very touching and human film about the 40 some odd year relationship between one of the greatest directors and greatest actresses of the last hundred years.

This is probably not a ideal film for those not familiar with Bergman and Ullman's work together. The film seems to assume a knowledge of that work, it's depth and importance. It's also not for film scholars looking for insight into either artist's working methods. This 85 minute film is solely about the course of a relationship that started when Ullman was 25 and Bergman 46 (and married), grew into a passionate affair, produced a child, ended up falling apart, only to be reborn in a new way – lasting until Bergman's death in 2007.

A lot of the film is an extended interview with Ullman who is candid, charming, funny and moving. We hear an actor read some of Bergman's letter's to Ullman (a slightly awkward device), but there's no question that the film is her perspective on the experience of a complex relationship between two great, vulnerable and sometimes very neurotic geniuses. There is some interesting occasional use of clips from the films that show how their off screen relationship was clearly influencing the work between them. But if you go in expecting some overview of their great collaborations you'll be disappointed. But as a human story of a love that lasted a lifetime, it's very rewarding.

I think this documentary's worth watching just to see some brief behind-the-scenes footage from the set of Cries and Whispers. It's silent, and shows all the leads sitting together and bouncing up and down, probably singing, all smiling and having fun while making the most miserable and least fun film Bergman ever made.

Otherwise, this is just an okay documentary. Liv Ullmann is a good central subject and interesting to listen to, but the filmmaking around her, to dramatise her story, is a bit lacking. There are minor attempts to parallel the turmoil of their romantic/working relationship with the turmoil Bergman's films at the time dealt with, but it's pretty superficial stuff. It seems like the documentary wasn't lacking when it came to access to Bergman's filmography, so that was a bit disappointing.

Ullmann is also very forgiving of Ingmar Bergman, which surprised me, because some of the ways he behaved seemed insufferable. I guess times have changed with the leeway we give those who could be deemed tortured geniuses, particularly when they bring other people into their circle with all the wild ups and downs that entails. It's one thing to be tortured alone, and another thing altogether when there's friendly fire.

That's kind of the portrait one gets here. But I'm glad Ullmann persevered, had her career survive post-Bergman, and got to tell her story. She's honestly probably a better actress than Bergman was a filmmaker, so she was a little too good for him on two fronts (flippancy aside, he was still a very good filmmaker. I don't like Cries and Whispers though- bam, review's come full circle).

An interesting subject to me, but I didn't much care for the way this documentary was put together. The use of extended clips from Bergman's films to attempt to represent reality, the cheesy soundtrack, the occasional reading of a snippet from Bergman's diary ... it was all distasteful. There are two sides to everything and I felt like rather than try to unearth that by interviewing others or put more structure and context around the narrative (and show it as objectively as possible), director Dheeraj Akolkar put most of his effort into finding and pulling clips from the films. It got annoying and I have to believe that Bergman would have hated the violation, both professionally and personally. Liv Ullmann is as natural and unaffected as ever, but there isn't a lot of depth to what she reveals, and it probably would have been a project better left unmade.