INGRID: IN HER OWN WORDS/ JAG AR INGRID

Sweden, 2015, 114 minutes, Colour.
Ingrid Bergman, Pia Lindstrom, Roberto Rossellini, Ingrid Rossellini, Isabella Rossellini, Sigourney Weaver, Liv Ullmann, Janine Basinger, Voice of: Alicia Vikander.
Directed by Stig Bjorkman.

This is a very welcome documentary about Ingrid Bergman. However, its main appeal is to older audiences who remember her and her films as well as to film buffs. For younger audiences, she is a part of cinema history – not so much part of their cinema going lives.

The film traces Ingrid Bergman’s life, both in Sweden, her career in theatre and in films in Sweden, and her going to Hollywood with a contract with David Selznick, her marriage and daughter, some separation from them during the war, her approach to Rossellini and going to Italy, the affair with him, her three children, Rossellini’s infidelity, her return to Hollywood, living in Paris, living in London.

There are some clips from many of her films but the history of her film career is not the focus of this documentary.

Her daughter, Isabella Rossellini, discovered trunks full of memorabilia which Ingrid Bergman had moved from country to country over the decades. There was a great deal of home movie material, Ingrid herself enjoying a great deal of filming. And, there were many letters to close friends. And the surprise was that the letters were not so much about her career but all about her children. Yet, as it emerges, she was not so successful as a mother but bonding with her children as a strong, charming and genial friend. Her children lived separately from her over the decades but relished her visits.

In the footage, it emerges how tall she was, a strong presence even though her children assure the audience that she was shy. Rather, she enjoyed taking on roles, taking on the characters that she portrayed. The film shows her in quite a number of Swedish films from 1932 to 1939.

She really wanted to go to Hollywood, was welcomed by Selznick, appeared with Spencer Tracy in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, was coached by Hitchcock for Notorious (no mention of Spellbound or Under Capricorn), portrayed Joan of Arc on stage and then on film, some sequences included here.

At the time, she was married to Dr Lindstrom and had a daughter, Pia. They came to the United States but were in the New York State while she was in Hollywood, some visits, many absences, their eventually coming to Hollywood. However, she wrote a Roberto Rossellini, admiring his films about the war, went to Italy to film Stromboli, began a relationship with him, a son and twin girls, making films in Italy in the first half of the 50s – and denounced in the United States by political officials as well as church officials.

Eventually, she made Anastacia, winning her second Oscar (after Gaslight in 1944), and then settled in France. She then met the theatre producer, Lars Schmidt, eventually marrying him and his fostering her career in theatre. She lived in France for many years, then moved to England. There are scenes from various television interviews in English, Italian, French. There are scenes with her speaking her native Swedish.

The film has clips of various films that she made during the 1950s and 1960s. The main film in the latter part of this documentary focuses on her meeting with Ingmar Bergman, her filming Autumn Sonata with Liv Ullmann, the clashes with the director, a reminder that despite what she said, she could be very dominating.

There are interviews with Liv Ullmann about Autumn Sonata with Isabella Rossellini (who had a career not only acting in films but interviews on television). They are joined by Sigourney Weaver who acted with Ingrid Bergman on stage in England.

There is mention that she played Golda Meir in her last film and that she died of cancer.

As the letters were mainly about her children, a great deal of footage is given to interviews with each of her children. At the time, there was great sympathy for Pia Lindstrom and her being abandoned by her mother so it is very interesting to hear several interviews with Pia Lindstrom about her mother and her relationship with her. It is the same with her son and the twins.


The director is a prominent Swedish writer and director.

Interesting and enjoyable for those who welcome a tribute to Ingrid Bergman.