Tim Roth gained worldwide recognition for his roles in two Quentin Tarantino films, Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, but anyone who has taken more than a passing interest in the British actor/director and Oscar nominee's career will know how rich and varied his roles have been over the years.
In his latest movie, Bergman Island, Roth plays the part of successful and well-known film-maker Tony who arrives with wife and screenwriter Chris (Vicky Krieps) for a writing retreat on the island of Fårö, in the Baltic Sea, where Ingmar Bergman once lived. It was also the setting for some of his 60 films, including Scenes from a marriage.
The Swedish director who also wrote his own screenplays is regarded as one of the 20th century's most accomplished film-makers.
Bergman Island has been called one of the best 10 movies of the year by Vanity Fair. Roth joins the show to discuss the movie and also refers to his time in New Zealand on the movie Punch during the first lockdown.
Tim Roth and Vicky Krieps in Bergman Island (2021). Photo: Supplied
Bergman apparently believed in ghosts and in the film Roth's character tells his daughter that he does too.
Roth told Sunday Morning that his character is very comfortable in himself and "unhaunted" while Vicky Krieps' character has many doubts and many ghosts.
"Bergman I suppose had ghosts past, present and future. Everybody's ghosts live with them as a permanent relationship I suppose, sometimes happily so and sometimes not.
"His dwelt more on the unhappy or on shakier ground - that's what he put on film anyway, that's what he wrote about."
Roth said he is not an authority on Bergman. While he had the opportunity to do plenty of research before filming he chose not to delve too deeply into the film-maker's life.
"It would have become too dark for my character which wasn't necessarily the point of him if I had gone through that minefield that is often Bergman.
" I do enjoy watching his films if enjoy is the right word for it but certainly watching the performances which are extraordinary within them [the movies].
"A complicated fella, but we all are right?"
Ingmar Bergman pictured in 1970. Photo: Getty Images
Bergman was married several times and had nine children by different partners but prioritised his career over his domestic duties.
Roth does not believe Bergman would have been worried by the so-called current 'cancel culture' or what people thought of him and how they expressed that.
Discussing relationships Roth said: "You don't know how you are going to respond to the difficulties you are challenged by on a daily or a yearly basis.
"It's the coming together of two people, as in the film, if you can survive those moments that get hurled at you - hope you do, hope you can."
'Astounding' island
Bergman created an island such as Fårö in his head long before he actually found it and Roth said he liked it a great deal.
"It was so beautiful - you can see why he put cameras on it, it's just astounding."
Asked what island he would like to create, he said how places make him feel is most important and the cities where he has been at his happiest are Paris and Rome.
"I feel I've washed up on shore somewhere that is delightful and magical - if you don't look too hard at it. When you look at anywhere you see the complications beyond the tourism. Those are the kind of places that I like to be. That's maybe because I come from London and I'm drawn to that, I'm comforted by that noise."
Tim Roth Photo: AFP
In the movie Roth's character takes a Bergman tour, which is a real thing in the form of a safari.
"I was quite shocked by that - the idea of a safari ...I wonder what he would have made of that."
During the pandemic last year, Roth was in Aotearoa to make "a lovely film" called Punch, which he describes as an extraordinary project that will be released soon.
He spent two weeks in managed isolation in a hotel in Auckland during which he says he was "policed".
After his release, filming provided "the most wonderful time" although he acknowledges that others have had their mental health challenges getting through Covid-19 times.
"I got to use my brain a bit and we're making it through. You were a part of it, I'm pleased to say."
