Trolösa (2000)

It did not seem to me that the point of this movie was to identify Bergman with Marcus and assume him to recollect his love for his best friend's wife. Instead, I saw it as a reconstruction of the act of writing, pictured in the most believable way: the author strolls near his house, he regards the shapes and chromatics of his own, familiar studio, listens to his musical box - and all these impressions converge into a unique, whole sensation, which brings to mind his main character, Marianne. Bergman both creates and discovers Marianne, starting with some basic features, little by little, until he has the first whole picture of her. Then she starts to capriciously live near him, in all his thoughts - sometimes very real, sometimes elusive. He grasps more little facts about her, until he knows enough to start telling her story. He is always coming back and asking his character for more details every time when his previous knowledge is not enough to develop the plot further. The characters may seem shallow because they are subordinated to the story - there is no need to know more about them than this particular happening in their lives asks for. The story is inspired by and revolves around the musical box, the lamp from where a genie named Marianne first appeared.

Quite apart what it seems to me as an obvious reconstruction of the act of writing, what could a character named Bergman be in a movie written by Bergman but the writer? Of course, he might put something of himself into Marcus, or David, or both, but this is quite another (hermeneutic) story.

One way or another, perhaps the better way to judge this movie is by simply surrendering to its beauty.