ROSSELLINI(S) AND BERGMAN(S) AT THE FILM FORUM. Last week, on the spur of the moment, I headed off to The Film Forum to see Isabella Rossellini at a screening of My Dad is 100 Years Old, a short film she made with Guy Maddin in which she shares memories of her father, the director Roberto Rossellini. It's a seriocomic novelty in which Isabella plays many roles, both male and female. In the film and in her remarks she came across as a charming, thoughtful, and creative person, reinforcing the impressions of her that I've gathered over the years.

Here she is as David O. Selznick, her mother Ingrid Bergman, and Charlie Chaplin.















Also on the bill: Bergman Island, which is not about Isabella's mother; rather, it's a profile of director Ingmar Bergman, who directed Ingrid Bergman in Autumn Sonata but eventually married a woman named Ingrid--Ingrid von Rosen. Much of the documentary consists of recent interview footage of the director, who has retreated to an isolated island home. I wasn't sure if I'd like the movie, but I gained a lot from spending time with this gifted director, who comes across as an old wise man who's led a remarkably rich but certainly not untroubled or untroubling life. (I couldn't help but think of Henry Miller in the documentaries The Henry Miller Odyssey and Henry Miller: Asleep and Awake.)

The movies are scheduled to run at The Film Forum through Tuesday, December 19, 2006.


Photo of Ingmar Bergman: Swedish Television SVT

Images of Isabella Rosellini from My Dad is 100 Years Old: Jody Shapiro