Ingrid Bergman in Her Own Words

 
Ingrid Bergman in Her Own Words (Jag är Ingrid) is a superb documentary. It is certainly for the first time that I have felt that I finally have an overall, accurate image of Ingrid Bergman, both the Hollywood star and the shy Stockholm-born girl who set her mind to conquer the world. And what is so special about it is that you get to know her a little better than ever before through her own words, photos and rare film footage. Because this is not the usual cinema documentary that relies heavily on movie clips, but one that uses Bergman’s own letters and diary entries from a very early age (beautifully narrated by Alicia Vikander in Swedish – I truly appreciated this personal touch and I think the fact that this is a Swedish film, directed by Stig Björkman, makes it so good and relatable to Ingrid’s real persona), inside family testimony (mostly her four children), her own photos she kept religiously over the years regardless of how many times she changed her life and country, and the movies she herself shot throughout her entire life – her love for the camera, both in front of and behind it, was instilled in her by her father whom she loved dearly and lost at a young age. She carried her love for photography and filming her entire life and this very lively biographical movie documenting that very life and her career wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.

This is a very complex, sincere, authentic portrait, subjective and objective at the same time, painting a picture of a very talented, impulsive, headstrong, rebellious, restless, warm, remarkable, charming Ingrid Bergman, whose biggest love, all her life, remained acting.
 

photo: Soda Pictures