Ingmar Bergman is the Oscar-winning Swedish auteur who helped bring international cinema into the American art houses with his stark, brooding dramas. But how many of his titles remain classics? Let’s take a look back at 25 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Born in 1918 in Uppsala, Sweden, Bergman started off as a screenwriter before moving into directing. His early hits “Summer with Monika” (1953), “Sawdust and Tinsel” (1953) and “Smiles of a Summer Night” (1955) helped make him a favorite amongst American audiences hungry for world cinema.
He hit his stride in 1957 with a pair of noteworthy titles: “Wild Strawberries” and “The Seventh Seal.” Both films dealt with the absence of God and the inevitability of mortality — the former concerning an aging professor (Victor Sjostrom) coming to terms with his life, the latter focusing on a medieval knight (Max von Sydow) playing a game of chess with Death (Bengt Ekerot...
Born in 1918 in Uppsala, Sweden, Bergman started off as a screenwriter before moving into directing. His early hits “Summer with Monika” (1953), “Sawdust and Tinsel” (1953) and “Smiles of a Summer Night” (1955) helped make him a favorite amongst American audiences hungry for world cinema.
He hit his stride in 1957 with a pair of noteworthy titles: “Wild Strawberries” and “The Seventh Seal.” Both films dealt with the absence of God and the inevitability of mortality — the former concerning an aging professor (Victor Sjostrom) coming to terms with his life, the latter focusing on a medieval knight (Max von Sydow) playing a game of chess with Death (Bengt Ekerot...
- 7/8/2023
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
It was the battle of the Stephens at the 27th annual Tony Awards telecast March 25, 1973 on ABC from the Imperial Theatre. In one corner was Stephen Sondheim’s glorious and exquisite romantic musical “A Little Night Music” based on Ingmar Bergman’s 1955 comedy “Smiles of a Summer Night.” And in the other corner, 25-year-old Stephen Schwartz’s hip, cool, Fosse Fosse Fosse musical “Pippin.”
“A Little Night Music,” which featured song memorable tunes as “Send in the Clowns” and “A Weekend in the Country,” waltzed into the ceremony hosted by Rex Harrison and Celeste Holm and co-hosted by Sandy Duncan and Jerry Orbach with 12 nominations including best musical, best original score, best book for Hugh Wheeler, best direction of a musical for Harold Prince, best performance by a leading actress in a musical for Glynis Johns, leading actor in a musical for Len Cariou, featured actress in a musical for...
“A Little Night Music,” which featured song memorable tunes as “Send in the Clowns” and “A Weekend in the Country,” waltzed into the ceremony hosted by Rex Harrison and Celeste Holm and co-hosted by Sandy Duncan and Jerry Orbach with 12 nominations including best musical, best original score, best book for Hugh Wheeler, best direction of a musical for Harold Prince, best performance by a leading actress in a musical for Glynis Johns, leading actor in a musical for Len Cariou, featured actress in a musical for...
- 4/5/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Pictured: Casting directors Katja Zarolinski and Geoff Josselson of Jz Casting.
This article first appeared as part of Jenelle Riley’s Acting Up newsletter – to subscribe for early content and weekly updates on all things acting, visit the Acting Up signup page.
Casting director Geoff Josselson just checked off a major bucket list item. When he was asked what show he dreamed of casting, he would say “Into the Woods.” And just last year, working with Telsey Casting, Josselson was part of the team that assembled the heralded Broadway revival starring Sara Bareilles, Brian D’Arcy James and Joshua Henry. Josselson is on a bit of a Stephen Sondheim spree — with Telsey he also helped cast the new production of “Sweeney Todd,” starring Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford. And he and his partner at Jz Casting, Katja Zarolinski, just collaborated for the first time with the Pasadena Playhouse to cast “A Little Night Music,...
This article first appeared as part of Jenelle Riley’s Acting Up newsletter – to subscribe for early content and weekly updates on all things acting, visit the Acting Up signup page.
Casting director Geoff Josselson just checked off a major bucket list item. When he was asked what show he dreamed of casting, he would say “Into the Woods.” And just last year, working with Telsey Casting, Josselson was part of the team that assembled the heralded Broadway revival starring Sara Bareilles, Brian D’Arcy James and Joshua Henry. Josselson is on a bit of a Stephen Sondheim spree — with Telsey he also helped cast the new production of “Sweeney Todd,” starring Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford. And he and his partner at Jz Casting, Katja Zarolinski, just collaborated for the first time with the Pasadena Playhouse to cast “A Little Night Music,...
- 3/24/2023
- by Jenelle Riley
- Variety Film + TV
A gloomy writer and his friend are trapped with strangers in a Baltic holiday home in Christian Petzold’s tonally wayward tale
Christian Petzold has for years been a titan of German cinema – and the Berlin film festival itself – and his new movie is an odd, quibbling tragicomedy with perhaps a little of Bergman’s Smiles of a Summer Night, avowedly intended as the second part of a trilogy about creativity and love (the first being Undine).
Afire is an approachable and digestible movie in some ways, and I liked the morose, hangdog look conjured by actor Thomas Schubert playing the miserable young writer Leon, who correctly suspects that his new novel, a zeitgeisty relationship comedy called Club Sandwich, is terrible. But in the end I felt that the film fully achieves neither the ostensible comedy of the opening, nor the supposed sadness of its denouement.
Christian Petzold has for years been a titan of German cinema – and the Berlin film festival itself – and his new movie is an odd, quibbling tragicomedy with perhaps a little of Bergman’s Smiles of a Summer Night, avowedly intended as the second part of a trilogy about creativity and love (the first being Undine).
Afire is an approachable and digestible movie in some ways, and I liked the morose, hangdog look conjured by actor Thomas Schubert playing the miserable young writer Leon, who correctly suspects that his new novel, a zeitgeisty relationship comedy called Club Sandwich, is terrible. But in the end I felt that the film fully achieves neither the ostensible comedy of the opening, nor the supposed sadness of its denouement.
- 2/22/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
When I was in college, a professor of mine credited two films with birthing modern European arthouse cinema: Federico Fellini's "8 1/2" and Ingmar Bergman's "The Seventh Seal." Their black-and-white cinematography aside, the two movies couldn't be more different from one another. Where Fellini's meta-fictional comedy is a series of relentlessly moving images full of zest and zeal, Bergman's historical drama is a somber period piece, his camera typically static as it fixates on the faces of the film's weary travelers. "8 1/2" is a surreal celebration of life in all its disorder; "The Seventh Seal" is a dour meditation on the existential conundrum of religious faith.
Yes, I just quoted the Swedish Chef from "Muppets Most Wanted." I only steal from the best, after all.
"The Seventh Seal" came together at a turning point in Bergman's career. He had only just gotten his first real taste of...
Yes, I just quoted the Swedish Chef from "Muppets Most Wanted." I only steal from the best, after all.
"The Seventh Seal" came together at a turning point in Bergman's career. He had only just gotten his first real taste of...
- 8/23/2022
- by Sandy Schaefer
- Slash Film
Every filmmaker keeps a couple of projects simmering on the back burner, the kind that can stay there for years until something heats them up. Mia Hansen-Løve had long wanted to write a script about two married film directors. She had personal insights, after all: she was married for 15 years to older French auteur Olivier Assayas, who first met her as a teenager when she acted in two of his films before going off to college and becoming a filmmaker (they had one child and divorced in 2017).
But her idea wasn’t going anywhere until Swedish auteur Ingmar Bergman died: Hansen-Løve just didn’t know that yet.
“I spend so much time with an idea of a film,” she told me backstage at the New York Film Festival, where her seventh feature film “Bergman Island” was warmly embraced, just as it was at Cannes earlier in the year. “It evolves...
But her idea wasn’t going anywhere until Swedish auteur Ingmar Bergman died: Hansen-Løve just didn’t know that yet.
“I spend so much time with an idea of a film,” she told me backstage at the New York Film Festival, where her seventh feature film “Bergman Island” was warmly embraced, just as it was at Cannes earlier in the year. “It evolves...
- 10/14/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Every filmmaker keeps a couple of projects simmering on the back burner, the kind that can stay there for years until something heats them up. Mia Hansen-Løve had long wanted to write a script about two married film directors. She had personal insights, after all: she was married for 15 years to older French auteur Olivier Assayas, who first met her as a teenager when she acted in two of his films before going off to college and becoming a filmmaker (they had one child and divorced in 2017).
But her idea wasn’t going anywhere until Swedish auteur Ingmar Bergman died: Hansen-Løve just didn’t know that yet.
“I spend so much time with an idea of a film,” she told me backstage at the New York Film Festival, where her seventh feature film “Bergman Island” was warmly embraced, just as it was at Cannes earlier in the year. “It evolves...
But her idea wasn’t going anywhere until Swedish auteur Ingmar Bergman died: Hansen-Løve just didn’t know that yet.
“I spend so much time with an idea of a film,” she told me backstage at the New York Film Festival, where her seventh feature film “Bergman Island” was warmly embraced, just as it was at Cannes earlier in the year. “It evolves...
- 10/14/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
This year’s Cannes Film Festival would have been a momentous occasion even if the films failed to deliver. Taking place in July instead of May after the 2020 edition was canceled, the very existence of the glitzy red-carpet cinematic celebration represented something of a comeback for the global film industry. Fortunately, the program didn’t disappoint, either. Major directors and rising stars alike made the trip to the French Riviera for one of the strongest selections in recent memory: a wide range of movie experiences from around the world that made the case for the survival of the art form, however it gets out into the world. Here are the 12 best movies from the 74th edition.
“After Yang” (Kogonada)
More speculative than “Columbus” yet no less poignant, Kogonada’s second feature is the kind of cozy sci-fi marvel that can only be made by someone with an incorruptible belief in...
“After Yang” (Kogonada)
More speculative than “Columbus” yet no less poignant, Kogonada’s second feature is the kind of cozy sci-fi marvel that can only be made by someone with an incorruptible belief in...
- 7/18/2021
- by Eric Kohn, Anne Thompson and David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
All products and services featured by IndieWire are independently selected by IndieWire editors. However, IndieWire may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
For those who collect Blu-rays and DVDs, one name stands above the rest: Criterion. With its impeccable eye for curation and excellent restorations and bonus features, the Criterion Collection has established itself as the definitive home video release company. The Criterion Collection is reserved for “important classic and contemporary films;” for directors, receiving that stamp of approval is almost as good as an Oscar. Criterion honors obscure foreign films and popular contemporary work with equal zeal; the only criteria is the brand’s high standards.
Many movie lovers outsource the legwork of collecting to Criterion, using their annual releases as a barometer of the films that are worth owning. Browsing the Criterion website...
For those who collect Blu-rays and DVDs, one name stands above the rest: Criterion. With its impeccable eye for curation and excellent restorations and bonus features, the Criterion Collection has established itself as the definitive home video release company. The Criterion Collection is reserved for “important classic and contemporary films;” for directors, receiving that stamp of approval is almost as good as an Oscar. Criterion honors obscure foreign films and popular contemporary work with equal zeal; the only criteria is the brand’s high standards.
Many movie lovers outsource the legwork of collecting to Criterion, using their annual releases as a barometer of the films that are worth owning. Browsing the Criterion website...
- 4/5/2021
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Before the next Smackdown, Nick Taylor will be visiting some "alternates" to the Supporting Actress Ballot.
Existence, am I right? Being alive? Inhabiting a physical form and experiencing things until we inevitably pass from this mortal coil? Few filmmakers have captured the ache of true, unbearable unhappiness with oneself, with love, with God, with time, with humanity itself like Ingmar Bergman did.
Yes, he did more than just contemplative, psychologically precise, wholly accessible dramas, like the fantastical, expansive, occasionally harrowing depiction of childhood in Fanny and Alexander. Still, who would expect the auteur behind Through a Glass Darkly and Cries and Whispers (truly one of the most upsetting films to watch under self-isolated quarantine) to make a bedroom farce as light and entertaining as Smiles of a Summer Night? The sheer fact of Smiles is almost as surprising as the narrative, which artfully succeeds at being funny and sexy while...
Existence, am I right? Being alive? Inhabiting a physical form and experiencing things until we inevitably pass from this mortal coil? Few filmmakers have captured the ache of true, unbearable unhappiness with oneself, with love, with God, with time, with humanity itself like Ingmar Bergman did.
Yes, he did more than just contemplative, psychologically precise, wholly accessible dramas, like the fantastical, expansive, occasionally harrowing depiction of childhood in Fanny and Alexander. Still, who would expect the auteur behind Through a Glass Darkly and Cries and Whispers (truly one of the most upsetting films to watch under self-isolated quarantine) to make a bedroom farce as light and entertaining as Smiles of a Summer Night? The sheer fact of Smiles is almost as surprising as the narrative, which artfully succeeds at being funny and sexy while...
- 6/25/2020
- by Nick Taylor
- FilmExperience
Right now, in this galaxy… featuring Lloyd Kaufman, Brad Simpson, Gilbert Hernandez, Grant Moninger and Blaire Bercy.
Please support the Hollywood Food Coalition. Text “Give” to 323.402.5704 or visit https://hofoco.org/donate!
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Mondo Keazunt (1955)
The Human Tornado (1976)
Gigot (1962)
The Hustler (1961)
How to Commit Marriage (1969)
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Touch of Evil (1958)
The Last Man On Earth (1963)
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
The Omega Man (1971)
I Am Legend (2007)
Panic In Year Zero! (1962)
Dogtooth (2009)
The Entity (1983)
Shelf Life (1993)
The Killers (1964)
The Next Voice You Hear… (1950)
Donovan’s Brain (1953)
Talk About A Stranger (1952)
Julius Caesar (1950)
They Saved Hitler’s Brain (1968)
The Exterminating Angel (1962)
The Jerk (1979)
Kings Row (1942)
Santa Fe Trail (1940
Bedtime For Bonzo (1951)
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter (19468)
Point Blank (1967)
House of Wax (1953)
Black Shampoo (1976)
A History Of Violence (2005)
Return To Oz (1985)
Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987)
The Anderson Tapes (1971)
Psycho (1960)
Two Evil Eyes (1990)
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three...
Please support the Hollywood Food Coalition. Text “Give” to 323.402.5704 or visit https://hofoco.org/donate!
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Mondo Keazunt (1955)
The Human Tornado (1976)
Gigot (1962)
The Hustler (1961)
How to Commit Marriage (1969)
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Touch of Evil (1958)
The Last Man On Earth (1963)
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
The Omega Man (1971)
I Am Legend (2007)
Panic In Year Zero! (1962)
Dogtooth (2009)
The Entity (1983)
Shelf Life (1993)
The Killers (1964)
The Next Voice You Hear… (1950)
Donovan’s Brain (1953)
Talk About A Stranger (1952)
Julius Caesar (1950)
They Saved Hitler’s Brain (1968)
The Exterminating Angel (1962)
The Jerk (1979)
Kings Row (1942)
Santa Fe Trail (1940
Bedtime For Bonzo (1951)
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter (19468)
Point Blank (1967)
House of Wax (1953)
Black Shampoo (1976)
A History Of Violence (2005)
Return To Oz (1985)
Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987)
The Anderson Tapes (1971)
Psycho (1960)
Two Evil Eyes (1990)
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three...
- 5/15/2020
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
Ingmar Bergman would’ve celebrated his 101st birthday on July 14, 2019. The Oscar-winning Swedish auteur helped bring international cinema into the American art houses with his stark, brooding dramas. But how many of his titles remain classics? In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 25 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Born in 1918 in Uppsala, Sweden, Bergman started off as a screenwriter before moving into directing. His early hits “Summer with Monika” (1953), “Sawdust and Tinsel” (1953) and “Smiles of a Summer Night” (1955) helped make him a favorite amongst American audiences hungry for world cinema.
SEEOscar Best Director Gallery: Every Winner In Academy Award History
He hit his stride in 1957 with a pair of noteworthy titles: “Wild Strawberries” and “The Seventh Seal.” Both films dealt with the absence of God and the inevitability of mortality — the former concerning an aging professor (Victor Sjostrom) coming to terms with his life,...
Born in 1918 in Uppsala, Sweden, Bergman started off as a screenwriter before moving into directing. His early hits “Summer with Monika” (1953), “Sawdust and Tinsel” (1953) and “Smiles of a Summer Night” (1955) helped make him a favorite amongst American audiences hungry for world cinema.
SEEOscar Best Director Gallery: Every Winner In Academy Award History
He hit his stride in 1957 with a pair of noteworthy titles: “Wild Strawberries” and “The Seventh Seal.” Both films dealt with the absence of God and the inevitability of mortality — the former concerning an aging professor (Victor Sjostrom) coming to terms with his life,...
- 7/14/2019
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Seen from the vantage of 2019, the extraordinary actresses who came to prominence in the films of Ingmar Bergman — Harriet Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Ingrid Thulin, and the sunny and anguished, incandescent and heartbreaking Bibi Andersson, who died Sunday — enjoyed a relationship with their director that was rooted in a 20th-century male-gaze ethos. Bergman was famously obsessed with these women: with their faces, their personae, the dramatic possibilities they opened up to him. He carried on off-screen romantic relationships with most of them (including Bibi Andersson), and in his movies he placed them on a grand pedestal of extravagant expression. The pedestal was framed not with a medium or long shot but with a starkly penetrating close-up. You could say that Bergman used the camera to probe their very being.
Yet it may be the essence of the partnership between Bergman, the mythical art-house giant, and the actresses he turned into psychodramatic...
Yet it may be the essence of the partnership between Bergman, the mythical art-house giant, and the actresses he turned into psychodramatic...
- 4/15/2019
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
As John Simon’s insert essay “The Lower Depths” asserts in Criterion’s Blu-ray re-release of Ingmar Bergman’s 1953 masterpiece Sawdust and Tinsel, the title was something of a turning point for the Swedish cinematic titan, who had yet to claim the international reputation he would soon come to be known for. Previous titles Summer Interlude (1951) and Waiting Women (1953) had recently found Bergman compete for Venice’s Golden Lion, and while 1947’s A Ship to India had been part of the Cannes program, it was 1955’s Smiles of a Summer Night which gave him his first crack at the Palme d’Or, while 1957’s Wild Strawberries would take home the Golden Bear in Berlin.…...
- 1/1/2019
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
‘Dance Til Dawn’ at 30: The Team Reflects on ‘Unusual Casting Process,’ #MeToo Relevance and DJ Dick
The spring and summer of 1988 were consumed with a writers’ strike within the film and television industry, but one project that launched in the fall came out of it unscathed: “Dance ‘Til Dawn,” an original television movie about Hoover High’s senior prom first aired on NBC Oct. 23, 1988. The movie was a who’s who of 1980s television — from Kelsey Grammer and Alan Thicke, to Christina Applegate, Tempestt Bledsoe and Tracey Gold — and its multi-generational casting allowed it to be an early pioneer of content aimed at a co-viewing audience. It was also a love letter to Los Angeles, utilizing iconic locations such as the Cocoanut Grove at the Ambassador Hotel as its soundstage. Now, 30 years after its initial release, “Dance ‘Til Dawn” also finds new relevance within the era of #MeToo and Time’s Up.
“The whole idea of a prom was a universal thing for everybody — everybody had...
“The whole idea of a prom was a universal thing for everybody — everybody had...
- 10/19/2018
- by Danielle Turchiano
- Variety Film + TV
Tomorrow is the centenary of the birth of one of cinema’s greatest directors, Ingmar Bergman, and to celebrate, The Criterion Collection has announced of their most expansive releases ever. This November, they will release Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema, a 39-film box set comprising nearly all of his work, including 18 films never before released by Criterion. Curated akin to a film festival, the set features Opening, Centerpiece, and Closing Films, with many double features in between. The set also features 11 introductions and over five hours of interviews with the director himself, six making-of documentaries, a 248-page book, and much more.
As we await for its November 20 release, check out an overview from Criterion below, as well as the box art, the trailer, and the full list of films, in curated order. One can also see much more about each release and the special features on the official site.
With the...
As we await for its November 20 release, check out an overview from Criterion below, as well as the box art, the trailer, and the full list of films, in curated order. One can also see much more about each release and the special features on the official site.
With the...
- 7/13/2018
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
As this rereleased 1975 version shows, the opera was the perfect vehicle for Bergman’s combination of symbolism, seriousness and mischief
Ingmar Bergman’s 1975 production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, originally made for television, is now rereleased as part of the Bergman centenary retrospective at London’s BFI Southbank. It has gaiety and mystery. To consider it between, say, his Smiles of a Summer Night and Fanny and Alexander, is perhaps to see the Mozartian quality of Bergman’s work generally; to savour an influence on his own registers of seriousness and mischief, and his use of symbolism.
Bergman’s production is a cool, frank presentation of the opera, an imagined theatrical performance that begins by looking at members of the audience in turn, but in the course of the action periodically returning to a single young girl’s smiling or thoughtful face – infrequently enough for us to realise that we had forgotten about her,...
Ingmar Bergman’s 1975 production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, originally made for television, is now rereleased as part of the Bergman centenary retrospective at London’s BFI Southbank. It has gaiety and mystery. To consider it between, say, his Smiles of a Summer Night and Fanny and Alexander, is perhaps to see the Mozartian quality of Bergman’s work generally; to savour an influence on his own registers of seriousness and mischief, and his use of symbolism.
Bergman’s production is a cool, frank presentation of the opera, an imagined theatrical performance that begins by looking at members of the audience in turn, but in the course of the action periodically returning to a single young girl’s smiling or thoughtful face – infrequently enough for us to realise that we had forgotten about her,...
- 3/16/2018
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Aaron, Arik Devens, Scott Nye and Travis Trudell dig into the June Criterion announcements, Ingmar Bergman on FilmStruck, Canoa: A Shameful Memory, Werner Herzog versus Klaus Kinski, Iranian Cinema, and plenty of other topics including the latest news from Criterion and FilmStruck.
Episode Notes
1:50 – June Announcements
34:00 – Ingmar Bergman
43:00 – Canoa: A Shameful Memory
49:00 – Criterion Coming Soon & Misc News Items
53:00 – Short Takes (Burden of Dreams, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, The House is Black, For Heaven’s Sake)
1:04:00 – FilmStruck
Episode Links Criterion – Ugetsu Criterion – They Live by Night Criterion – The Marseilles Trilogy Criterion – The Lodger Criterion – Straw Dogs Scott Reviews Ingmar Bergman’s The Devil’s Eye CriterionCast 173 – Ingmar Bergman’s Summer Interlude CriterionCast 174 – Ingmar Bergman’s Summer with Monika CriterionCast 175 – Ingmar Bergman’s Smiles of a Summer Night A History of Jazz Podcast Arik Reviews Canoa: A Shameful Memory Albert Brooks Tweet about Lost in America...
Episode Notes
1:50 – June Announcements
34:00 – Ingmar Bergman
43:00 – Canoa: A Shameful Memory
49:00 – Criterion Coming Soon & Misc News Items
53:00 – Short Takes (Burden of Dreams, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, The House is Black, For Heaven’s Sake)
1:04:00 – FilmStruck
Episode Links Criterion – Ugetsu Criterion – They Live by Night Criterion – The Marseilles Trilogy Criterion – The Lodger Criterion – Straw Dogs Scott Reviews Ingmar Bergman’s The Devil’s Eye CriterionCast 173 – Ingmar Bergman’s Summer Interlude CriterionCast 174 – Ingmar Bergman’s Summer with Monika CriterionCast 175 – Ingmar Bergman’s Smiles of a Summer Night A History of Jazz Podcast Arik Reviews Canoa: A Shameful Memory Albert Brooks Tweet about Lost in America...
- 3/20/2017
- by Aaron West
- CriterionCast
“Smiles Of A Chekhovian Night”
By Raymond Benson
Most cinephiles know that Woody Allen is a huge fan of Ingmar Bergman. Allen has paid homage to the Swedish master several times, and his 1982 work, A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy, is an example. It draws upon one of Bergman’s very few comedies, Smiles of a Summer Night (1955), which is also the basis of the Stephen Sondheim Broadway musical and later film, A Little Night Music.
Smiles takes place at the turn of the last century (1800s to 1900s) in a rural village in Sweden, and the story follows the bawdy escapades of several couples. Likewise, Allen’s Midsummer takes place in the same time period, although the story is transplanted to “the country” somewhere in New York state, and concerns an ensemble of six characters—three couples—who also embark on bawdy escapades.
Bergman’s original film, in turn,...
By Raymond Benson
Most cinephiles know that Woody Allen is a huge fan of Ingmar Bergman. Allen has paid homage to the Swedish master several times, and his 1982 work, A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy, is an example. It draws upon one of Bergman’s very few comedies, Smiles of a Summer Night (1955), which is also the basis of the Stephen Sondheim Broadway musical and later film, A Little Night Music.
Smiles takes place at the turn of the last century (1800s to 1900s) in a rural village in Sweden, and the story follows the bawdy escapades of several couples. Likewise, Allen’s Midsummer takes place in the same time period, although the story is transplanted to “the country” somewhere in New York state, and concerns an ensemble of six characters—three couples—who also embark on bawdy escapades.
Bergman’s original film, in turn,...
- 1/23/2017
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
The late Ingmar Bergman is best known for films such as “Fanny and Alexander,” “Smiles Of A Summer Night” and “Wild Strawberries,” among many others. With a career spanning over 60 years, he’s recognized as one of the most accomplished and influential auteurs of all time.
Many cinephiles know about his work and films, but there’s one in particular that was unknown to many, until now.
According to Reuters, a previously unknown script written by Bergman for a collaboration with Akira Kurosawa and Federico Fellini, titled “Sixty-Four Minutes With Rebecka,” will be turned into a movie by Swedish director Suzanne Osten.
Read More: The Essentials: The 15 Greatest Ingmar Bergman Films
The screenplay, written in 1969, was shelved after the project fell through and later found in the early 2000s when Bergman donated his collections to set up what would be the Ingmar Bergman Foundation. The “highly intense” story revolves...
Many cinephiles know about his work and films, but there’s one in particular that was unknown to many, until now.
According to Reuters, a previously unknown script written by Bergman for a collaboration with Akira Kurosawa and Federico Fellini, titled “Sixty-Four Minutes With Rebecka,” will be turned into a movie by Swedish director Suzanne Osten.
Read More: The Essentials: The 15 Greatest Ingmar Bergman Films
The screenplay, written in 1969, was shelved after the project fell through and later found in the early 2000s when Bergman donated his collections to set up what would be the Ingmar Bergman Foundation. The “highly intense” story revolves...
- 10/26/2016
- by Liz Calvario
- Indiewire
This time on the podcast, Scott is joined by David Blakeslee, Trevor Berrett, and Arik Devens to discuss Ingmar Bergman’s Smiles of a Summer Night.
About the film:
After fifteen films that received mostly local acclaim, the 1955 comedy Smiles of a Summer Night (Sommarnattens leende) at last ushered in an international audience for Ingmar Bergman. In turn-of-the-century Sweden, four men and four women attempt to navigate the laws of attraction. During a weekend in the country, the women collude to force the men’s hands in matters of the heart, exposing their pretensions and insecurities along the way. Chock-full of flirtatious propositions and sharp witticisms delivered by such Swedish screen legends as Gunnar Björnstrand and Harriet Andersson, Smiles of a Summer Night is one of cinema’s great erotic comedies.
Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes
Buy The Film On Amazon:
Watch a scene from the...
About the film:
After fifteen films that received mostly local acclaim, the 1955 comedy Smiles of a Summer Night (Sommarnattens leende) at last ushered in an international audience for Ingmar Bergman. In turn-of-the-century Sweden, four men and four women attempt to navigate the laws of attraction. During a weekend in the country, the women collude to force the men’s hands in matters of the heart, exposing their pretensions and insecurities along the way. Chock-full of flirtatious propositions and sharp witticisms delivered by such Swedish screen legends as Gunnar Björnstrand and Harriet Andersson, Smiles of a Summer Night is one of cinema’s great erotic comedies.
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- 8/29/2016
- by Scott Nye
- CriterionCast
Today in 1974, A Little Night Music closed at the Shubert Theatre, where it ran for 601 performances. A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Since its original 1973 Broadway production, the musical has enjoyed professional productions in the West End, by opera companies, in a 2009 Broadway revival, and elsewhere, and it is a popular choice for regional groups. It was adapted for film in 1977, with Harold Prince directing and Elizabeth Taylor, Len Cariou, Lesley-Anne Down and Diana Rigg starring.
- 8/3/2016
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Today in 1973, A Little Night Music opened at the Shubert Theatre, where it ran for 601 performances. A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Since its original 1973 Broadway production, the musical has enjoyed professional productions in the West End, by opera companies, in a 2009 Broadway revival, and elsewhere, and it is a popular choice for regional groups. It was adapted for film in 1977, with Harold Prince directing and Elizabeth Taylor, Len Cariou, Lesley-Anne Down and Diana Rigg starring.
- 2/25/2016
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Today in 2009, A Little Night Music opened at the Walter Kerr Theatre, where it ran for 425 performances. A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Since its original 1973 Broadway production, the musical has enjoyed professional productions in the West End, by opera companies, in a 2009 Broadway revival, and elsewhere, and it is a popular choice for regional groups. It was adapted for film in 1977, with Harold Prince directing and Elizabeth Taylor, Len Cariou, Lesley-Anne Down and Diana Rigg starring.
- 12/13/2015
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Today in 1974, A Little Night Music closed at the Shubert Theatre, where it ran for 601 performances. A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Since its original 1973 Broadway production, the musical has enjoyed professional productions in the West End, by opera companies, in a 2009 Broadway revival, and elsewhere, and it is a popular choice for regional groups. It was adapted for film in 1977, with Harold Prince directing and Elizabeth Taylor, Len Cariou, Lesley-Anne Down and Diana Rigg starring.
- 8/3/2015
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Qui aime les films français ?
If you do and you live in St. Louis, you’re in luck! The Seventh Annual Robert Classic French Film Festival — co-presented by Cinema St. Louis and the Webster University Film Series begins March 13th. The Classic French Film Festival celebrates St. Louis’ Gallic heritage and France’s cinematic legacy. The featured films span the decades from the 1930s through the early 1990s, offering a comprehensive overview of French cinema. The fest is annually highlighted by significant restorations.
This year features recent restorations of eight works, including an extended director’s cut of Patrice Chéreau’s historical epic Queen Margot a New York-set film noir (Two Men In Manhattan) by crime-film maestro Jean-Pierre Melville, who also co-stars; a short feature (“A Day in the Country”) by Jean Renoir, on a double bill with the 2006 restoration of his masterpiece, The Rules Of The Game, and the...
If you do and you live in St. Louis, you’re in luck! The Seventh Annual Robert Classic French Film Festival — co-presented by Cinema St. Louis and the Webster University Film Series begins March 13th. The Classic French Film Festival celebrates St. Louis’ Gallic heritage and France’s cinematic legacy. The featured films span the decades from the 1930s through the early 1990s, offering a comprehensive overview of French cinema. The fest is annually highlighted by significant restorations.
This year features recent restorations of eight works, including an extended director’s cut of Patrice Chéreau’s historical epic Queen Margot a New York-set film noir (Two Men In Manhattan) by crime-film maestro Jean-Pierre Melville, who also co-stars; a short feature (“A Day in the Country”) by Jean Renoir, on a double bill with the 2006 restoration of his masterpiece, The Rules Of The Game, and the...
- 3/4/2015
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Today in 1973, A Little Night Music opened at the Shubert Theatre, where it ran for 601 performances. A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Since its original 1973 Broadway production, the musical has enjoyed professional productions in the West End, by opera companies, in a 2009 Broadway revival, and elsewhere, and it is a popular choice for regional groups. It was adapted for film in 1977, with Harold Prince directing and Elizabeth Taylor, Len Cariou, Lesley-Anne Down and Diana Rigg starring.
- 2/25/2015
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Everyone knows Woody Allen. At least, everyone thinks they know Woody Allen. His plumage is easily identifiable: horn-rimmed glasses, baggy suit, wispy hair, kvetching demeanor, ironic sense of humor, acute fear of death. As is his habitat: New York City, though recently he has flown as far afield as London, Barcelona, and Paris. His likes are well known: Bergman, Dostoevsky, New Orleans jazz. So too his dislikes: spiders, cars, nature, Wagner records, the entire city of Los Angeles. Whether or not these traits represent the true Allen, who’s to say? It is impossible to tell, with Allen, where cinema ends and life begins, an obfuscation he readily encourages. In the late nineteen-seventies, disillusioned with the comedic success he’d found making such films as Sleeper (1973), Love and Death (1975), and Annie Hall (1977), he turned for darker territory with Stardust Memories (1980), a film in which, none too surprisingly, he plays a...
- 1/24/2015
- by Graham Daseler
- The Moving Arts Journal
Today in 2009, A Little Night Music opened at the Walter Kerr Theatre, where it ran for 425 performances. A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Since its original 1973 Broadway production, the musical has enjoyed professional productions in the West End, by opera companies, in a 2009 Broadway revival, and elsewhere, and it is a popular choice for regional groups. It was adapted for film in 1977, with Harold Prince directing and Elizabeth Taylor, Len Cariou, Lesley-Anne Down and Diana Rigg starring.
- 12/13/2014
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Last month David Fincher’s Gone Girl made a smash at the box office. As if plugged directly into the Zeitgeist, it seemed as if everyone had a take on the film’s views on gender, the media and marriage. Gone Girl was a sensation that turned the camera inward, revealing our discomfort with the institution of marriage. While the butt of many jokes, marriage is perceived as an important pillar in our understanding of families, social values and personal happiness. Yet, it remains behind closed doors. We understand marriage within the realms of our own experience, our parents, our friends and our own marriages. Yet, we are only ever truly familiar with our own intimate relationships and even that is under debate. If anything, Gone Girl shows that within marriage there are two sides to every story. Marriage is veiled with a certain air of mystery and the question...
- 11/1/2014
- by Justine Smith
- SoundOnSight
Each week HeyUGuys will take a primary focus on the site. This could be a genre of movie, an aspect of the industry, a specific person or part of the movie making process we want to explore further. This week our focus is the divisive issue of film censorship. We began yesterday with a debate of the necessity of the BBFC, and today Beth Webb explains the censorial milestones we have passed. Tomorrow Cai Ross lists the scenes which caused the censors a headache and on Friday we’ll be looking forward to the future of film censorship.
Since 1912 the British Board of Film Censors has been standardising films for its audiences, sifting through the obscene, the violent and the suggestive to ensure that movies receive the classification seen fit. Today, as part of our Film Censorship week, take a look at some of the landmarks in both the British...
Since 1912 the British Board of Film Censors has been standardising films for its audiences, sifting through the obscene, the violent and the suggestive to ensure that movies receive the classification seen fit. Today, as part of our Film Censorship week, take a look at some of the landmarks in both the British...
- 8/27/2014
- by Beth Webb
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Today in 1974, A Little Night Music closed at the Shubert Theatre, where it ran for 601 performances. A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Since its original 1973 Broadway production, the musical has enjoyed professional productions in the West End, by opera companies, in a 2009 Broadway revival, and elsewhere, and it is a popular choice for regional groups. It was adapted for film in 1977, with Harold Prince directing and Elizabeth Taylor, Len Cariou, Lesley-Anne Down and Diana Rigg starring.
- 8/3/2014
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Today in 1973, A Little Night Music opened at the Shubert Theatre, where it ran for 601 performances. A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Since its original 1973 Broadway production, the musical has enjoyed professional productions in the West End, by opera companies, in a 2009 Broadway revival, and elsewhere, and it is a popular choice for regional groups. It was adapted for film in 1977, with Harold Prince directing and Elizabeth Taylor, Len Cariou, Lesley-Anne Down and Diana Rigg starring.
- 2/25/2014
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
When I really began digging into classic cinema, one of the films I started with was Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal, and it wasn't that long ago. According to Netflix, I returned the disc on January 8, 2008 after returning Bergman's Wild Strawberries about a month earlier (I wrote about them both briefly right here). I'd actually received both discs at the same time, but kept Seventh Seal a little longer because it had so truly captured my imagination. I've written about it a few times since, including a review of the Criterion Blu-ray a little over four years ago. I've found Bergman's work captivating ever since, several as a result of the Criterion Collection including reviewing Smiles of a Summer Night, Summer Interlude and Summer with Monica, Fanny and Alexander and The Magician along with my discovery of Persona two years ago, whose two-shot imagery is repeated in a highly...
- 9/24/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music holds a special place in my heart. A particularly impressive production at a community theatre was my first time to see a Stephen Sondheim musical staged, and it began my love affair with the man's music. The Tony Award winning and successful 1973 musical features a score written entirely in schmaltzy waltz time signatures and has a delightfully soapy plot derived from Ingmar Bergman's 1955 Swedish film Sommamattens leende In English Smiles of a Summer Night. In 1977, a film version of A Little Night Music was released, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Lesley-Anne Down, and Diana Rigg, with Len Cariou, Hermione Gingold, and Laurence Guittard reprising their Broadway roles. While the critical reception to the stage musical was glowing, the critical reception of the film was notoriously underwhelming. Despite this, Jonathan Tunick received an Oscar for his orchestrations of the memorable, lovely, and tuneful score, which...
- 8/13/2013
- by David Clarke
- BroadwayWorld.com
Today in 1974, A Little Night Music closed at the Shubert Theatre, where it ran for 601 performances. A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Since its original 1973 Broadway production, the musical has enjoyed professional productions in the West End, by opera companies, in a 2009 Broadway revival, and elsewhere, and it is a popular choice for regional groups. It was adapted for film in 1977, with Harold Prince directing and Elizabeth Taylor, Len Cariou, Lesley-Anne Down and Diana Rigg starring.
- 8/3/2013
- BroadwayWorld.com
Ingmar Bergman is simply one of the great Masters of cinema. In all of his career – producing over 60 films and documentaries for the cinema and television – he made masterpiece after masterpiece – hardly ever hitting a bum note.
When I started work upon this article, I had originally envisioned writing about five Bergman movies. But as I began work on the article, I realised what an insult I had delivered to Bergman – only writing about 5 films, as if that represented the sum of his career. The list bloomed and bloomed until I compromised on 15 Bergman films and I am happy with this list as it showcases the best of his mighty film arsenal.
If you disagree with any of the choices, please comment below.
15. Smiles Of A Summer Night (1955)
Bergman does comedy this time with his turn of the 20th century rom com. Frederick Egerman is a successful lawyer who has...
When I started work upon this article, I had originally envisioned writing about five Bergman movies. But as I began work on the article, I realised what an insult I had delivered to Bergman – only writing about 5 films, as if that represented the sum of his career. The list bloomed and bloomed until I compromised on 15 Bergman films and I am happy with this list as it showcases the best of his mighty film arsenal.
If you disagree with any of the choices, please comment below.
15. Smiles Of A Summer Night (1955)
Bergman does comedy this time with his turn of the 20th century rom com. Frederick Egerman is a successful lawyer who has...
- 6/9/2013
- by Clare Simpson
- Obsessed with Film
Amazon is having a massive sale on Criterion Collection titles, virtually all of them listed at 50% off and I have included more than 115 of the available titles directly below along with a selection of ten I consider must owns. Titles beyond my top ten include Amarcord, Christopher Nolan's Following, David Fincher's The Game, Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory and The Killing, Roman Polansk's Rosemary's Baby, Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore and The Darjeeling Limited and plenty of Terrence Malick. All the links lead directly to the Amazon website, so click on through with confidence. Small Note: By buying through the links below you help support RopeofSilicon.com as I get a small commission for the sales made through using these links. Thanks for reading and I appreciate your support. Top Ten Must Owns 8 1/2 (dir. Federico Fellini) 12 Angry Men (dir. Sidney Lumet) The 400 Blows (dir.
- 6/6/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Amazon is having a massive sale on Criterion Collection titles, virtually all of them listed at 50% off and I have included more than 115 of the available titles directly below along with a selection of ten I consider must owns. Titles beyond my top ten include Amarcord, Christopher Nolan's Following, David Fincher's The Game, Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory and The Killing, Roman Polansk's Rosemary's Baby, Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore and The Darjeeling Limited and plenty of Terrence Malick. All the links lead directly to the Amazon website, so click on through with confidence. Small Note: By buying through the links below you help support RopeofSilicon.com as I get a small commission for the sales made through using these links. Thanks for reading and I appreciate your support. Top Ten Must Owns 8 1/2 (dir. Federico Fellini) 12 Angry Men (dir. Sidney Lumet) The 400 Blows (dir.
- 6/6/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
I've mentioned before how several years ago I created a list using Roger Ebert's Great Movies, Oscar Best Picture winners, IMDb's Top 250, etc. and began going through them doing my best to see as many of the films on these lists that I had not seen as I possibly could to up my film I.Q. Well, someone has gone through the exhaustive effort to take all of the films Roger Ebert wrote about in his three "Great Movies" books, all of which are compiled on his website and added them to a Letterbxd list and I've added that list below. I'm not positive every movie on his list is here, but by my count there are 363 different titles listed (more if you count the trilogies, the Up docs and Decalogue) and of those 363, I have personally seen 229 and have added an * next to those I've seen. Clearly I have some work to do,...
- 4/10/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
I've mentioned before how several years ago I created a list using Roger Ebert's Great Movies, Oscar Best Picture winners, IMDb's Top 250, etc. and began going through them doing my best to see as many of the films on these lists that I had not seen as I possibly could to up my film I.Q. Well, someone has gone through the exhaustive effort to take all of the films Roger Ebert wrote about in his three "Great Movies" books, all of which are compiled on his website and added them to a Letterbxd list and I've added that list below. I'm not positive every movie on his list is here, but by my count there are 362 different titles listed (more if you count the trilogies and Decalogue) and of those 362, I have personally seen 229 and have added an * next to those I've seen. Clearly I have some work to do,...
- 4/10/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Today in 1973, A Little Night Music opened at the Shubert Theatre, where it ran for 601 performances. A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Since its original 1973 Broadway production, the musical has enjoyed professional productions in the West End, by opera companies, in a 2009 Broadway revival, and elsewhere, and it is a popular choice for regional groups. It was adapted for film in 1977, with Harold Prince directing and Elizabeth Taylor, Len Cariou, Lesley-Anne Down and Diana Rigg starring.
- 2/25/2013
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Today in 2009, A Little Night Music opened at the Walter Kerr Theatre, where it ran for 425 performances. A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Since its original 1973 Broadway production, the musical has enjoyed professional productions in the West End, by opera companies, in a 2009 Broadway revival, and elsewhere, and it is a popular choice for regional groups. It was adapted for film in 1977, with Harold Prince directing and Elizabeth Taylor, Len Cariou, Lesley-Anne Down and Diana Rigg starring.
- 12/13/2012
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Just when you thought there couldn't be anymore deals this year Amazon goes and lowers their prices on several of their Criterion Blu-ray titles, many of which are priced at $17.99 including personal must owns such as Seven Samurai, Stagecoach, 12 Angry Men, Diabolique, The Thin Red Line, The Wages Of Fear, The Great Dictator, The Night of the Hunter, Rashomon, 8 1/2, Last Year at Marienbad and a major favorite of mine... Breathless. There are even some titles available for preorder such as Terry Gilliam's Brazil and Christopher Nolan's Following along with recently released titles such as Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon, David Fincher's The Game and Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby. I have broken the titles up into a few categories below based on my personal taste so sort through and give 'em a look and see if you can save a little money on some titles you've been wanting to add to your collection.
- 11/25/2012
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Today in 1974, A Little Night Music closed at the Shubert Theatre, where it ran for 601 performances. A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Since its original 1973 Broadway production, the musical has enjoyed professional productions in the West End, by opera companies, in a 2009 Broadway revival, and elsewhere, and it is a popular choice for regional groups. It was adapted for film in 1977, with Harold Prince directing and Elizabeth Taylor, Len Cariou, Lesley-Anne Down and Diana Rigg starring.
- 8/3/2012
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
In a reprint of his 1958 review of Ingmar Bergman's Summer with Monika, Jean-Luc Godard wrote of the scene captured above (and previewed to the right) saying, "One must see Summer with Monika, if only for the extraordinary minutes when Harriet Andersson, about to sleep with a guy she has left once before, stares fixedly into the camera, her laughing eyes clouded with distress, and calls on the viewer to witness her self-loathing at involuntarily choosing hell over heaven. It is the saddest shot in the history of cinema." The full review is included in the 28-page booklet accompanying Criterion's new Blu-ray release of the film along with an essay by Laura Hubner (read it in full right here) whose interpretation of the shot reads as follows: The static shot of Monika's face is scandalously close up, and she looks steadfastly at us, breaking the cinematic illusion, as the screen darkens around her.
- 6/1/2012
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: May 22, 2012
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Harriet Andersson and Lars Ekborg are young and in love in Bergman's 1953 Summer with Monika.
Inspired by the earthy eroticism of his muse Harriet Andersson (Smiles of a Summer Night), in the first of her many film roles for him, Ingmar Bergman (Face to Face) had a major international breakthrough with his 1953 drama-romance Summer with Monika.
Set in Stockholm, the sensual tale of young love tells of a girl (Andersson) and boy (Lars Ekborg, The Magician) from working-class families who run away from home to spend a secluded, romantic summer at the beach, far from parents and responsibilities. Inevitably, it’s not long before the pair is forced to return to reality.
The version of the classic film originally released in the U.S. was re-edited by its distributor into notably more salacious kind of film, but the original Summer with Monika...
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Harriet Andersson and Lars Ekborg are young and in love in Bergman's 1953 Summer with Monika.
Inspired by the earthy eroticism of his muse Harriet Andersson (Smiles of a Summer Night), in the first of her many film roles for him, Ingmar Bergman (Face to Face) had a major international breakthrough with his 1953 drama-romance Summer with Monika.
Set in Stockholm, the sensual tale of young love tells of a girl (Andersson) and boy (Lars Ekborg, The Magician) from working-class families who run away from home to spend a secluded, romantic summer at the beach, far from parents and responsibilities. Inevitably, it’s not long before the pair is forced to return to reality.
The version of the classic film originally released in the U.S. was re-edited by its distributor into notably more salacious kind of film, but the original Summer with Monika...
- 3/14/2012
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Erland Josephson in 2006.
Erland Josephson, a sturdy and distinguished Swedish actor best known for his frequent collaborations with legendary film and theater director Ingmar Bergman (Smiles of a Summer Night), passed away on Saturday, February 25, at the age of 88.
Josephson, who died at a Stockholm hospital, had long been suffering from Parkinson’s disease, according to a spokeswoman from Sweden’s Royal Dramatic Theatre, where he had been the managing director from 1966 to 1975.
Born in 1923 in Stockhoom to a family deeply involved in the arts (his relatives included composers, painters and a theater director who had worked with playwright August Strinberg), Josephson never had any formal acting education. But that didn’t stop him from embarking on an frequent “dramatic” collaborations with Bergman, which began in the late 1930s when Bergman directed him in a municipal stage production of The Merchant of Venice in Gothenburg. Several years later, Josephson’s...
Erland Josephson, a sturdy and distinguished Swedish actor best known for his frequent collaborations with legendary film and theater director Ingmar Bergman (Smiles of a Summer Night), passed away on Saturday, February 25, at the age of 88.
Josephson, who died at a Stockholm hospital, had long been suffering from Parkinson’s disease, according to a spokeswoman from Sweden’s Royal Dramatic Theatre, where he had been the managing director from 1966 to 1975.
Born in 1923 in Stockhoom to a family deeply involved in the arts (his relatives included composers, painters and a theater director who had worked with playwright August Strinberg), Josephson never had any formal acting education. But that didn’t stop him from embarking on an frequent “dramatic” collaborations with Bergman, which began in the late 1930s when Bergman directed him in a municipal stage production of The Merchant of Venice in Gothenburg. Several years later, Josephson’s...
- 2/27/2012
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Today in 1973, A Little Night Music opened at the Shubert Theatre, where it ran for 601 performances. A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Since its original 1973 Broadway production, the musical has enjoyed professional productions in the West End, by opera companies, in a 2009 Broadway revival, and elsewhere, and it is a popular choice for regional groups. It was adapted for film in 1977, with Harold Prince directing and Elizabeth Taylor, Len Cariou, Lesley-Anne Down and Diana Rigg starring.
- 2/25/2012
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Best Contemporary Titles
Winner: "The Tree of Life"
Runner-up: "Black Swan"
Love it or hate it, Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life" is visually the most luscious film of the year and Blu-ray transfer recreates this in perfect detail. No digital artifacts or enhancements are done here, there is a bit of grain but that's expected with the photography on offer, while the IMAX 65mm sequences are true visual wonders.
Coming in second is my favourite film of last year, Darren Aronofsky's psychological thriller "Black Swan". Here is a challenge of a different sort, a film shot on both 16mm film and off the shelf Dslr video cameras. The result is a deliberately soft and grainy handheld-style image which lends a realistic documentary feel to proceedings and could look terrible if the Blu-ray transfer was handled poorly. Full kudos to Fox for a high quality presentation lacking in...
Winner: "The Tree of Life"
Runner-up: "Black Swan"
Love it or hate it, Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life" is visually the most luscious film of the year and Blu-ray transfer recreates this in perfect detail. No digital artifacts or enhancements are done here, there is a bit of grain but that's expected with the photography on offer, while the IMAX 65mm sequences are true visual wonders.
Coming in second is my favourite film of last year, Darren Aronofsky's psychological thriller "Black Swan". Here is a challenge of a different sort, a film shot on both 16mm film and off the shelf Dslr video cameras. The result is a deliberately soft and grainy handheld-style image which lends a realistic documentary feel to proceedings and could look terrible if the Blu-ray transfer was handled poorly. Full kudos to Fox for a high quality presentation lacking in...
- 1/3/2012
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
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