Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words

Stig Björkman's affectionate documentary profile of Ingrid Bergman combines Bergman's diary entries and letters (read in voiceover by Oscar-winning actress Alicia Vikander) with remembrances from her daughter Isabella Rossellini and other confidants, including actress and director Liv Ullmann. The results play like a rejoinder to those depressing Hollywood-chews-up-actress-and-spits-her-out stories. Before she left Sweden for America, Bergman had already lost her parents and siblings, which might have contributed to her independent spirit. But while she thrived on screen in classics like Casablanca, the puritanical press of the 1940s condemned her affair with Italian filmmaker Roberto Rossellini (she also had affairs with Robert Capa and Victor Fleming). But aside from those scandals, there is no dirt here. Viewers will learn that Bergman loved working with Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, and Alfred Hitchcock. She also wrote heartfelt letters to directors with whom she wanted to work, such as Ingmar Bergman, who reignited her career with a role in Interiors. All told, Bergman had three husbands, four children, and lived in five countries. She won three Oscars, but also received scathing reviews for her more experimental work. In the end, she was a remarkable woman who had no regrets. As she says, "I had a lion inside me that wouldn't keep quiet." Recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include extended scenes (20 min.), a new interview with director Stig Björkman (19 min.), deleted scenes (12 min.), home movies (7 min.), the music video for Eva Dahlgren's soundtrack song “The Movie About Us” (5 min.), clips from Bergman's 1936 film On the Sunny Side and 1932 film Landskamp (5 min.), and an essay by film scholar Jeanine Basinger. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a solid biographical portrait.] (K. Fennessy)