Husband & wife pair of screenwriters (they write separately, they don't collaborate) visit a Swedish island, the home of Ingmar Bergman. It's clear that there are tensions in their relationship, though these are not spelled out. The husband is clearly a worshipper of Bergman, the wife not so much. He goes on a "Bergman safari" she flirts with a young film student.

Then, halfway through, she starts telling him about the story she's writing, and most of the second half of the film is a film within a film. Then cut back to the main film, when she says she can't think of an ending for her project. Then the film and the filmwithin a film start to bleed into each other - then they both just stop, without there being an ending for either of them.

It's not all bad; there are compelling performances throughout, and just enough interest is sustained (in both films) to save things from being a complete mess, but....

Pretentious? Probably - but Bergman would've loved it.

Could have been a great film, but it cannot decide which way to go. It feels like standing beore a signpost with a dozen possible directions, but the author director could not really make up her mind which one to pursue.

Since the story revolves around Ingmar Bergman, who used to life and film on this island, we get a lot of references, movie clips, talks, sights, and quips about him, his films and his life. Praise and critique about Bergman is woven into the story of a couple of filmmakers, Chris and Tony, coming to Fårö, to write scripts and learn more on Bergman. Their different work styles, subjects and attitude have quite some Bergmanesque quality, though none of the straits are followed to the end. The Bergman worshipping and bashing does not offer any new insights and sounds like remnants from an abandoned documentary project. The film tends to remain on the lighter side until we get to hear and see Chris' script evolve as she tells it to her partner.

Here begins the strongest plot line, blending fiction with the reality. I only wish the director had focussed more on this development. It would have been an ultimately more compelling film.

I went into this with high expectations. Billed as a must-see for those who would appreciate Sweden's most esteemed artist. Thirty minutes in and trying to keep my eyelids in an actiive status, I broke out the Chalk not wanting to miss a beat. But by the one hour mark, I realized this film neither featured Dolph Lundgren nor did it ever even utter his name. I was confounded and vexed. Tim Roth and Vicky Krieps spent the entire duration on screen discussing mundane nonsense without paying homage to the most famous Swede in history. Shame on you!