Smiles Of A Summer Night - Criterion Collection

Amazon.com

Ingmar Bergman achieved international stardom with this classic melancholy comedy about the romantic entanglements of three 19th-century couples during a weekend at a country estate. It's exactly what you'd expect from a bedroom farce filtered through the ideas and eyes of Bergman: sharp, serious, pensive, austerely sexy, and ultimately sobering. Still, anyone who thought the Swedish filmmaker was incapable of a little fun has only to watch Bergman's orchestrations of these dangerous liaisons. Prosperous lawyer Fredrik (Gunnar Björnstrand) is married to the comely young Anne (Ulla Jacobsson), who (despite his best efforts) remains a virgin. Henrik (Björn Bjelfvenstam), Fredrik's grown son from a previous marriage, is desperately in love with Anne--and having an affair with the maid (Harriet Andersson)--despite the torturings of his pious soul. When actress Desiree (Eva Dahlbeck), Fredrik's former mistress, breezes into town, Fredrick pays her a visit, only to find himself jealous of her relationship with the piggish Count Malcolm (Jarl Kulle), who just happens to be married to Anne's best friend, the depressed and suicidal Charlotte (Margit Carlqvist); both women have a decided bone to pick with Desiree. All convene at the estate of Desiree's mother for a weekend of confrontations, illicit romance, dinner, dueling, and eventual pairing with the right romantic partner. Bergman winningly conveys the aspects of love among both the young and the old--those who feel they'll live forever and those whose impending mortality colors their actions. Absolutely brilliant and heartfelt, a true cinematic masterpiece. The basis for Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, of "Send in the Clowns" fame. --Mark Englehart

Description

Distinguished lawyer Frederik Egerman lives with Anne, his picturesque, young wife, his son Henrik, a forlorn student of the cloth, and Petra, the flirtatious yet sensible maid. One summer evening Frederik takes Anne to see a play starring his former lover Desirée, the veteran actress with an equally seasoned reputation. With her glamorous stage entrance and one inviting smile, she sparks the lives of the parties involved into a game of love and loyalty that barely masks each player's percolating insecurities. Through witty dialogue, theatrical direction, and an ensemble cast, director Ingmar Bergman delivers a raw exhibition of human desire.

Customer Reviews:

Rest in Peace Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007).......2007-08-01

As I'm sure everyone is already aware, the world lost one of it's greatest talents yesterday, Ingmar Bergman. I cannot claim to be his biggest fan, but I will always respect and honor his work. I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank him for giving me one of my favorite films of all time, Smiles Of A Summer Night. It has always been overshadowed by his more famous films, but to me it will always be his greatest statement. Name one other person who could write a story like this when they were on the verge of suicide. Mr. Bergman said that at this point of his life he had only two options; kill himself, or write a comedy. I'm fairly sure that I'm not the only one who appreciates that he chose the latter. I will not go over the plot of this movie because that has been extensively covered by previous reviewers, but I will say that I find this to be one of the wittiest and most sophisticated comedies ever made. Thank you again Mr. Bergman for the legacy you have left behind. Although you have left us in life, your work will live on forever.

The Triumph of Love.......2007-06-21

Bergman, that great master artist of melancholy, smiles here, and the world smiled with him. SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT was hugely successful in its original release -- the money it made gave Bergman the artistic license to make some of his darker films. For today's audiences, it's probably more familiar in its musical incarnation as Sondheim's A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, and that's a pity. SMILES is one of the screen's greatest comedies, a work to be compared to the classics of Moliere and Mozart, both in structure and in tone. Marvellous performances from the entire cast, with Eva Dahlbeck a particular delight as Desiree. The usual wonderful Criterion transfer here. For sheer romantic pleasure, this one's hard to beat.

Ah Men...Ah Women.............2007-05-14

A romantic comedy by Ingmar Bergman? Well, yes, sort of, as in The Human Comedy, rife with sharp observations about the living mystery of love, the necessity for the pursuit of the ephemeral while equally acknowledging the absurdity of the whole enterprise. Acerbic, witty and wise, this beautiful film has all the trappings of French farce with everyone in the beginning either married or otherwise involved with the wrong person and in the end love triumphant and balance restored. Of course, this is Sweden's Bergman telling the tale and that means a dour, skeptical, and near pessimistic view of our follies. And yet, in the end even the morose Swede has to yield to the ever surprising power of the never-completely-down Midsummer sun and the ever renewing and uplifting joy of human love.

The inspiration for other works, notably Sondheim's "A Little Night Music" and Woody Allen's "A Misummer Night's Sex Comedy", this is a gem of a film. As Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns" so deftly told of how love can go awry by bad timing, or missed opportunity, and as J.Geils more bluntly put it in "Love Stinks", Bergman here examines the yearning for what one wants, while missing what one needs, and the mismatches and misery that can follow from that. Ah, but there is the Midsummer Night smiling. Anyone who has ever been in Scandinavia in Midsommer will know how intense and alive with possibility the never dark days can be. Ah yes, and love will out. Meanwhile, "the clowns will have coffee in the kitchen". Amen.

Eternal Smile,.......2006-06-16

"Smiles of a Summer Night" is one of the most elegant and charming carnal comedies ever filmed. It is clever, witty, and incredibly sexy. Did I mention that it was written and directed by The Ingmar Bergman whose name would not usually be associated with the comedies?

"Smiles of a Summer Night" was a great success with both the critics and the audiences and was submitted for the Cannes film festival...without its creator's knowledge. The film was nominated for the Golden Palm and won the Award for Best Poetic Humor. Bergman describes how he found out about his movie's international recognition, "I was sitting on the toilet reading a morning newspaper. One of the articles was entitled, The Great Victory for a Swedish Cinema at Cannes. I thought, what a wonderful news, what is the movie? And then I read the title, "Smiles of a Summer Night" by Ingmar Bergman." He recalls how poor he was then and he borrowed the money for a ticket to Cannes from Bibi Anderson whom he dated at the time.

I did not laugh a lot but I don't think I was supposed to - "Smiles... is a different kind of comedy, sensual and subtle, with the characters often weak but not ridiculous. The beauty of it is in the dialogs, ironic looks, the charming struggle of wits, and in the realization that not everyone will be blessed with the true and passionate love but the life goes on, anyway. The actresses (Ulla Jacobsson, Eva Dahlbeck, Harriet Andersson, and Margit Carlqvist) were incredibly sexy, especially Eva Dahlbeck smoking a cigar and Harriett Andersson as a chambermaid talking to her mistress about the virginity - delightful!

There are no words to describe the beauty, splendor, charm, humor, and sensuality of this film. The best I can do - to paraphrase Woody Allen's line -"that was the most fun I've ever had without sex."

3 star story done in a 5 star way.......2006-06-09

The title Smiles of a Summer Night refers to couples eventually finding happiness at the end of this intelligent comedy. There are several couples involved, but you aren't sure who will end up with who until the end. Will the man end up with his wife or with somebody else? And if he doesn't end up with his wife, who will get her?

The female characters are much stronger, much wiser, than the males, with one exception, the chubby male servant.

The other three male characters are the prim lawyer, the lawyer's uptight son who is studying for the clergy, and the tough soldier. All three are nincompoops.

The female characters are the lawyer's young wife, the accomplished actress, the soldier's wife, and the flirtatious maid, not to mention the actress's elderly and very sharp mother.

You would think that four men and four women would result in four couples, but there are more than four couples.

The lawyer has a potential connection with all four women. His son connects to both the maid and his stepmother, daddy's young bride. The soldier is involved with the actress as well as his own wife. Only the male servant is confined to one woman, the maid, but he's the only guy having a good time. And there's another potential couple, judging by the hugging, kissing and giggling going on between the young bride and her maid.

I'll open the door slightly to the plot without giving any answers away. The lawyer has not yet had sex with his young bride, though they have been married a long enough time. She doesn't seem to want it. The successful actress used to be the lawyer's mistress, but she dumped him years ago when she gave up on ever getting him to marry her. She has a son with, coincidentally, the same first name as the lawyer. But she is currently the mistress of the soldier. The lawyer is too thick to realize that yes, obviously, the little boy is his son.

The story is entertaining but the artistry in the writing, directing, acting, lighting, is more entertaining. There's a happy ending, but you knew that already by the title. It's a silly little comedy done extremely well, a 3 star story done in a 5 star way.

DVD:

DVD

DVD