The stench of Grace Kelly biopic “Grace Of Monaco,” which opened Cannes in 2014 before ending up as a literal Lifetime Movie, was hard to wash off the Croisette. This year, another film focusing on an iconic female actress (and Hitchcock lead) of classic Hollywood proved far more successful, with the screening in the Cannes Classics sidebar of “Ingrid Bergman In Her Own Words.”
A documentary, rather than a biopic (thank Christ) “In Her Own Words,” from filmmaker Stig Björkman, is a Swedish film that looks to do exactly what it sets out to in the title: to tell the story of the star of “Casablanca,” “Notorious” and “Stromboli,” among others. Björkman does so through Bergman’s own personal diary, along with home movie footage and personal photographs. The film was made with the blessing of her family, with daughter Isabella Rossellini being the one who initially suggested making the film.
As the film’s trailer, which has just arrived and is featured below, makes clear, is that there’s some contemporary star power at work with Alicia Vikander of Ex Machina reading Bergman’s words. It looks like a must for anyone who’s a fan of the star or classic cinema in general. Swedish audiences will get to see it on the 28th of August, which would have been Bergman’s centenary. There is no news yet as to when it’ll arrive in the U.S.