★ 7 / 10
I know, who'd have though it? An Ingmar
CinemaSerf
I know, who'd have though it? An Ingmar Bergman film that's actually quite fun! It's also quite racy too! "Fredrik" (Gunnar Björnstrand) has married the much…
I know, who'd have though it? An Ingmar Bergman film that's actually quite fun! It's also quite racy too! "Fredrik" (Gunnar Björnstrand) has married the much, much younger "Anne" (Ulla Jacobsson) but their relationship is as yet unconsummated. She isn't yet happy about losing her virginity or he decides she is too young for the experience. Depends on who you talk to, but suffice to say it's not about either not wanting to have sex! The arrival of his young son "Henrik" (Björn Bjelfvenstam) home after his exams turns her head and she is clearly more interested in that member of the family. "Henrik", meantime, is also a virgin and has been having a rather unrewarding and slightly comical flirtation with the maid "Petra" (Harriet Andersson) to try and rectify that situation. Their weekend scenario is going to get even more messy when actress "Désiree" (Eva Dahlbeck) arrives, stirring up memories of her own relationship with "Frederik" - one that still nurses the gentlest of affectionate flames. Finally, her friend the "Countess Charlotte" (Margot Carlqvist) shows up with her husband "Count Carl" (Jarl Kulle). Now here is an intriguing marital dynamic. He is having a fairly open, and quite jealously protective, liaison with "Désiree" whilst his wife is ostensibly permitted to play away as she pleases. This is going to be one hell of a dinner party and a combination of drink and some fairly unfettered morals are now let loose on an audience for an enjoyable, almost farcical, costume romp. Yes, it's more sophisticated than that - but essentially, this is quite a potent and funny assessment of human nature, of the constrictions we put on our own behaviour before finding a myriad of ways to breach these codes. Alcohol empowers us, reduces our inhibitions certainly; but to what extent we will do what instinct and urge tell us to is well presented here. Personally, I thought Carlqvist and Andersson stole the scenes - their characters purveying something natural, visceral and usually quite entertaining, too. Perhaps unintentional, but the film also struck me as a bit of a parody of some of the other great looking high-costume dramas the rather more earnestly illustrate the rigidity and hypocrisy of the double-standard bearing middle and upper classes, and I did really quite enjoy this.
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★ 7 / 10
Bergman and comedy rarely mix, but this one has something
ian_harris
Begrman's comedy's tend to leave me cold, but I was persuaded that this one would be interesting. Bergman to some extent made his name on the back of this…
Begrman's comedy's tend to leave me cold, but I was persuaded that this one would be interesting. Bergman to some extent made his name on the back of this film. Woody Allen famously based A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy on this movie, thus coming out as a Bergman fan.
Frankly, I think Allen has more talent for comedy than Bergman, but Smiles of a Summer Night has more depth and more interesting development of ideas than the Allen follow-up.
This movie is a typical comedy of manners and the plot is of little consequence - it has a few fun moments but the interest is in the acting and the ideas. In terms of performances, Gunnar Bjornstrand and Harriet Andersson are both superb - the rest are Bergman's usual suspects, mostly of ensemble quality. Perhaps it is Bergman's weakness with comedy, but Eva Dahlbeck and Jarl Kulle (who appear frequently in his comedies) usually seem very weak to me. Bibi Andersson is in this movie, but I blinked at the appropriate moment so I missed her. Sigh.
The core ideas of the film (that love visits few of us, even fewer of us make a good fist of it, most of us live lies and/or make fools of ourselves in matters of love) are examined well and in an enjoyable way. The style of this comedy reminds me of Jean Anouilh's lighter plays, which I suppose reflects the European style of the 1950's.
Most Bergman comedies have aged disgracefully, but this one has aged gracefully and certainly has something. Worth watching.
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