Bergman's Island.

Film Working my way through through the mumblecore back catalogue I've become something in awe of Greta Gerwig, which I know is a bit obvious and desperate but she's one of those rare actors whose persona reached the screen fully formed even from her earliest appearances in films where she's playing characters called Greta because there seemed little point in calling them anything else.

She recently appeared at a Q&A with Noah Baumbach at the New Yorker festival where they talked about favourite movies and things and mentioned a visit to Ingmar Bergman's island, the transcript of which sounds like a mumblecore improvisation:

“It’s the island that Bergman lived on, but he also shot six or seven of his movies there,” Baumbach said. “They’ll say, ‘That’s “Persona” Beach over there, and then past that is “Through a Glass Darkly” Beach.’ It was great for all the Bergman reasons, and then the island is just, like—”

“It’s enchanted. Noah kept saying it was the happiest he’d been in years.”

“I was using the word ‘magical,’ and meaning it. I keep trying to re-create it.”

Bergman died in 2007; his house is intact. “It’s not a museum; it’s just there,” Gerwig said. “On the back of his office door, he has a chart where he graded every month of his relationship with Liv Ullmann. For like twenty-five years. Some months got hearts, and some months got devils. And some months are just crossed out.”

“Are we allowed to talk about this?” Baumbach said.

“Yeah, no, we’re fine,” Gerwig said.