MAMMA MIA!
BERGMAN ISLAND Mia Hansen-Løve on being inspired by Sweden’s greatest export.
Forget the title, for a moment: when French writer/director Mia Hansen‑Løve (Eden, Things To Come) first started pondering Bergman Island, the titular colossus of European cinema (director Ingmar, not actress Ingrid) was nothing to do with it.
“My first desire was to make a film about a couple of directors, and for it to be a film that would deal with what inspiration is for me,” says HansenLøve. “We’ve seen a lot of films on shooting and actors and producers. But who has actually made a film about the writing process, and especially the writing process for a woman director?”
It was a fascinating idea, especially given Hansen-Løve was in a relationship with acclaimed filmmaker Olivier Assayas (Summer Hours, Personal Shopper) between 2002 and 2017. Her movie, about fledgling director Chris (Vicky Krieps) and established helmer Tony (Tim Roth), would draw on her own experiences.
She nods. “After living for many years with a director who was much more established than I was, and there was an age difference, and the fact that he’s a man and I’m a woman…”
She pauses. “He was an accomplished director when I was a young director without any self-confidence. But I found my voice.”
Then came the eureka moment – why not set it on Fårö, the island off the eastern coast of Sweden where Bergman lived and worked from the mid-1960s until his death in 2007? Its desolate beauty can be seen in such masterpieces as Through A Glass Darkly, Persona and Scenes From A Marriage, and many fans and filmmakers make the pilgrimage to visit his offices and locations.
“I met once with Greta Gerwig in Paris, and she was on the way back from Fårö, where she was with [partner] Noah Baumbach. So all these things met together at some point and gave me the intuition that this place was the symbol of cinema. And Bergman is a director of couples. If a filmmaker really filmed relationships between a man and a woman, it’s him. And I wanted to make a film about that too. So it became obvious that Fårö could be the perfect setting for my story.”
While visiting Fårö, Chris and Tony begin to question their relationship. But rather than mimic the verbal hostility of Bergman’s scathing domestic dramas, Hansen-Løve keeps the tone warmer and more optimistic.
“I love the brutality of the films of Bergman, and I admire his sincerity, his lucidity,” she says. “I love the way he looks at himself in a very cruel way. But I never try to imitate his style. I try to find my own language. I was still myself when I was there, and, yes, my films will always look for light, somehow.”
‘It became obvious that Fårö could be the perfect setting for my story’ MIA HANSEN-LØVE
BERGMAN ISLAND OPENS IN CINEMAS ON 3 JUNE, AND STREAMS ON MUBI FROM 22 JULY.