Ingmar Bergman has a street named after him in Stockholm, but
the city is not really his stomping ground. (Strindberg, on
the hand, has one of his residences converted into his museum.)
There is a Swedish Film Institute, but it is relegated to the
outermost limit of the east side of the city. Even with my
predilection for walking, it is a stop too far. The cinematic
tourism I managed was a walk up the King's Park, opposite the
fictional publishing house where the Netflix series "Love and
Anarchy" is supposedly set.

Which is a shame; Stockholm is such a photogenic city. Every
house is beautifully painted and maintained (the "slums" having
been apparently demolished in the 70s and 80s). Every street
puts San Francisco's famed "painted ladies" to shame. (But
perversely, all the boats and yachts are painted a monochrome
white.) Even more impressive are the 50+ bridges connecting
the small islands and rock outcroppings. The International
Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance has its own
tiny island you can walk around in 40 seconds. Add to the
historical palaces, castles, and churches, and you wonder why
more films are not set in Stockholm. (I was told that
50 miles north of Gothenburg, my first stop on the other side
of Sweden, is "Hollywood Scandinavia." Gothenburg is a 3-hour,
$15 ride from Stockholm; on the East Coast of the U.S. such
a train ride would have cost 10 times as much. Things are
cheap.)

The most cinematically relevant part of my trip occurred
during the flight to Sweden. Luthansa has an impressive
library of recent, subtitled French and German films, many
of which I have never heard of. _Mascarade_ stars Marine
Vacth and Laura Morante as grifters out to avenge themselves
against rich man (Francois Cluzet), rich women (Isabelle
Adjani, Emmanuelle Devos), and gigolos (Pierre Niney) who
have ruined their lives. The neo-noir is overlong and its
feminist moral is dubious at best, but the all-star cast
put in amazing performances. How come I have never heard
of this 2022 film? Director Bedos has made a few things
I've seen, including _Mr. and Mrs. Adelman_.

More cinematically accomplished and philosophically
challenging is _Grand Expectations_ starring Rebecca
Marder and Emmanuelle Bercot. The contrast between
sun-drenched but threatening Sicily and drab factory
scenes in the South of France serves as a constant,
Dostevsky-like reminder of the moral quandry facing
Marder's character. On a trip to Sicily, the leftist
political science degree candidates Marder and her
boyfriend kill a local roughneck in a road rage episode
and hide the body. The traumatic event causes both to
fail their PhD defense. Marder's character, who comes
from a humble background and is estranged from her
father, is recruited by the worker-factory-ownership
advocate played by Bercot. But the dream team turns
into a nightmare when the still-traumatized boyfriend
returns, works for the opposition (he comes from money),
and wants them to get back together romantically. It
all turns extremely ugly, with political and personal
loyalty strained to the limit. The tests of character
reveal Marder's protagonist to be at once the most
idealistic and most compromised. The film's resolution
would not have been out of place in a Sicilian mob movie.
Behind every fortune is a crime; perhaps the same
can be said of every political dynasty. (Except for
Donald Trump, who is a walking crime syndicate with
a thousand crimes to his name.) It goes without
saying that Marder is riveting to watch, but 2nd time
feature director Sylvain Desclous should also be
remembered.

_Life for Real_ is a Danny Boon comedy vehicle. The
only reason to watch it is Charlotte Gainsbourg as
an unrepentant floozy.

And finally, _Sisi and I_ is about Countess Irma
(Sandra Huller) who is drafted to be the companion of
the much loved Austrian Empress "Sisi" (Susanne Wolff,
so memorable in _Return to Montauk_). Away from court,
the empress consorts with artists, free thinkers, and
their outre antics. The revered Sisi imposes the
strictess rules on weight watch, diet, and exercise on
her poor servants and companions. These would have
been unthinkable today, and the woke crowd would have
persecuted Sisi like her husband and the royal court.
(Which perhaps only show that today's orthodoxy and
Spanish inquisition-style political climate is a giant
step backward.) Huller is always a hoot to watch;
the film, considerably less.

==================================================

The best film I've seen recently, apart from _Grand
Expectations_, would be the documentary _Joan Didion:
The Center Could Not Hold_. It mostly features the
words of the late Didion herself, in conversation
with the director (her nephew?) or in print. A few
collaborators add observations; by far the most
moving and substantial of these are by David Hare,
who collaborated with Didion on a stage play late
in her life. The film expertly edits together B&W
footage, still photos, and modern day videos. It
is well-written too, ending smoothly and sweetly
where it begins. Most important of all, it sends me
running back to Didion's novels. That is almost all
you can ask for in a film about an author.

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