Liv & Ingmar

Dheeraj Akolkar's 2012 documentary covers the forty-two-year relationship between the actress Liv Ullmann and the director Ingmar Bergman. They worked together, lived together, separated, and went on writing to each other for the rest of their lives. The documentary consists almost entirely of Ullmann's account. Bergman had died and his side is given only through letters, diaries and scenes from the films; that makes the telling one-sided, and openly so. Scenes from the films they made together are placed inside the narrative. Some of Bergman's behaviour towards Ullmann was controlling and hurtful; the documentary reports this without dwelling on it. Who it's for: those who like Bergman's cinema and documentaries about artistic relationships. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a critical assessment; the film largely presents the relationship in a romantic frame.