Ingrid Bergman in Her Own Words

Does exactly what it claims to. Plenty of candid archive footage of Mrs Bergman, plenty of voice-over from recorded memoirs. Archive film footage, a little talking heads, and it's in the can. An interesting biography, even if it never really gets into anything properly juicy or controversial. Pity she wasn't alive to add the final piece of perspective and judgement on her own career.

Michael Nyman's marvelous melancholic strings give each 8mm clip the impression of barely concealed sadness, as if Bergman's charmed life was nothing more than a grand cinematic memory, even for her, and as if she never arrived at true happiness or generosity for those who loved her.

See, documentaries like this one is why biopics of people who spent their entire life in a camera-laden spotlight is a dumb idea. Let's just see and hear the actual actress and her family rather than some starlet pretending to be her. Very well put together, I just wish it had focused a bit more on her actual career rather than her family life.

A safe portrait of Ingrid Bergman. While you can sense a disappointment from her children being neglected by her favoring sleeping with producers/directors and making films instead of being with them, they all end up talking warmly about her spirit and love of life. Not a bad documentary, but I did wish for more insight to her career even if we do get to dig a lot in her family albums and home videos.