Coming to the city today is a documentary about two ordinary people who lived extraordinary lives. Meet master filmmaker Ingmar Bergman and legendary actor Liv Ullmann, who tell a story of love like no one ever has, brought to the silver screen by the efforts of Dheeraj Alolkar. The film, titled Liv & Ingmar , is a profoundly emotional journey, magically transported into Liv’s intangible memories and reminisces, the love story of Ingmar and Liv which they shared over 42 years and 12 films. Constructed through a collage of images and sounds from the Ullmann-Bergman films, photographs and Liv’s narrative – this is a homage – not only to two of the greatest artistes in the world, but also to inseparable friends and soul mates.
Speaking to MetroPlus from London where he is currently based, Dheeraj shares his experiences on the project, which has been officially selected in 18 international film festivals so far.
What intrigued Dheeraj is a biographical written by Liv titled Changing . “Written six years after she separated from Ingmar, she talks very tenderly about him as ‘a man who changed my life’. She narrates how he broke down in front of her when his mother passed away and ‘in that moment, I knew I could never leave him and I never really have’. That knowledge is love. This story is set in Scandinavia for over 50 years but no one wanted to make it because Ullmann and Bergman were criticised for their relationship. They were married when they met, divorced, stayed together without marrying and had a child out of wedlock. This was 1965 in very conservative Norway and Sweden. But the reality is that there was so much love and a lot that had not been said.”
Dheeraj describes the film in one word - togetherness. “In a world which is so fragmented, calculated and push-and-pull – this is their kind of togetherness. When people see the film, the message is very simple – the woman sitting in front of the camera is not a superstar, she is just a woman who loves a man. For 42 years, they had this beautiful bond, made 12 films and on the spot where he declared his love for her, he built a house for her where he lived and died. She was the last person to see him alive. She was in the last frame of his last film. This is something extraordinary, beautiful and tender. No form of live is complete without pain and hence the tagline in the film is ‘painfully connected’. This is about a bridge these two people in love built and met at a point where they could be each other’s friends.”
Dheeraj says that though Ingmar is dead, he is present throughout the film. “We shot the film at his house on the island of Faro between Sweden and Russia. We use his voice, clips and photographs. Though the movie is from Liv’s perspective, Ingmar is always there.”
For Dheeraj, this project has been very personal. “Their story inspires me to know that love is possible. I’ve also known women like Liv in my life - strong women who got up and did something about their lives and fought. My mother, my grandmother and my aunts — they are very strong, tactile, tender and giving women. So I was able to identify with Liv for being a woman who is criticised for having an ambition, fought jealousy and loved despite everything.”
At the heart of his films, Dheeraj believes this is the one place in his life where he is not scared of anything. “Otherwise, I am like anyone else – worried, cynical and ordinary. In cinema, I really come alive. It is a way to escape and create a world.”
After being in the cinema field for a few years now, Dheeraj thinks a good work of art is necessary. “We make films because it makes us happy. Though that seems selfish, it helps an unknown someone in some unknown way to solve something. How beautiful that a work of art can helps someone in real life. That is the magic of cinema.”
Dheeraj sums up with a message to Bangalore’s film buffs. “This is not a story of a Norwegian actor and a Swedish director. It’s a story of you and I, of life and love. Meet the work and give it a chance. This is from the heart and a story of two ordinary people who live extraordinary lives. I invite you to give it a try.”
Catch the screening at Everest Talkies, Frazer Town on May 29 at 7 p.m.
