Jul 16, 2013 01:21 PM
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Liv & Ingmar is a documentary on the 42-year-old relationship between legendary actress Liv Ullman and the master filmmaker Ingmar Bergman. It was screened at the 14th Mumbai Film Festival as a part of The Real Reel section.
It's an immensely touching documentary on the romance, separation and subsequent friendship between the two cinematic legends. The archive footage has been tailored in beautifully as have the scenes from the several films in which they worked together.
Liv and Ingmar met in 1964, lived together for five years, had a child and worked in 12 films. Five decades on, following Ingmar's death, the love has still not died down. The documentary is predominantly interspersed with interviews of Liv Ullman. She speaks about her relationship with Ingmar over 4-5 major aspects. They are Love, Pain, Anger, and Friendship and so on. She speaks about the time that she spent with him at his famous house on an island in Sweden.
She speaks about the good times and the bad times leading to their eventual separation. She also talks about coping up with the separation and pursuing a career in Hollywood subsequently. She goes on to talk about how she bumps into Ingmar again and a friendship ensues!
The concept of the film is quite brilliant. With a balanced screenplay by Dheeraj Akolkar and fine editing by Tushar Ghogale, you don't realize how the 83 minutes breeze past. The music by Stefan Nilsson is touching in parts and when required, escalates the tension in the film as well. It's extremely courageous of Liv to come out and talk about a few uncomfortable aspects about her relationship. You could see that she was overwhelmed while talking about the physical violence and the indifference shown to her by Ingmar during the latter phase of their 5-year-old romantic liaison. It's really gutsy of her to come out and present truth the way it was.
It's a sensitive, touching portrayal about a true love story. Relish it and take something back.
Shivom Oza
