Ingrid Bergman in Her Own Words

It's ironic that a woman who was affected so deeply by the childhood loss of her parents should have been such a middling mother. Inheriting her photographer father's penchant for filming cosy domesticity, Ingrid Bergman shot endless home movies of Pia Lindström and Isotta, Isabella and Robertino Rossellini. Yet, while they all agree that she was fun to be around, they also wish they had seen more of her. That's after Bergman sought to rebuild her career following her adulterous affair with Italian director Roberto Rossellini in the early 1950s, which made her a pariah in the capital of double standards, Hollywood. Director Stig Bjorkman makes solid use of the family archive to focus on the Swedish star's personal travails, while Alicia Vikander reads poignantly from her letters and diaries. But the absence of any in-depth analysis of Bergman's acting technique, or her refusal to play the studio game will frustrate those hoping for an insight into one of the screen's most natural but restless talents.