A Masterpiece!

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHTS is an intelligent, honest and very funny comedy about complicated love relationships between men and women.One prominent lawyer, who is faced with problems in his marriage, requires the help of his former mistress. The famous and beautiful actress wants her former lover. The young man, who was on his way to becoming a priest falls in love with his stepmother. One officer wants to be a good husband and a better lover at the same time. His wicked wife wants him for herself at all costs. There is also a naughty little housemaid who knows her way around an old coachman.This film is full of witty romantic incidents. Philosophic conclusions are attractive and they reflect with a certain elegance. The director skillfully presented a conflict between young (inexperienced) and mature (experienced) form of love. The series of personal complications makes up for the content of the film. This leads to a series of comic situations, criss-crossed love and even explicit scenes. Despite the cynical views on love and sexuality by Mr. Bergman, the end of the film is still happy and all the protagonists are "satisfied".Characterization is commendable. Men are strictly "pompous" figures, while women are sweet and impressionable. Male dignity is exposed to a „serious" satire.Gunnar Björnstrand as Fredrik Egerman is elegant, tough and cunning lawyer. Jarl Kulle as Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm is fun, a bit self-centered and arrogant officer. Ulla Jacobsson Anne Egerman is beautiful and even more naive young wife. Eva Dahlbeck as Desiree Armfeldt is a impatient mistress and a single mother. Harriet Andersson (Petra) is lively and merry maid and Åke Fridell (Frid) is a coachman who explains to us the existence of three types of love on a summer night.This is a playful comedy in which love conquers frustration and tragedy turns into farce.

Ingmar Bergman's "Smiles of a Summer Night" is a charming comedy (in its way) about love and romance. Here, everyone is in love, but with the wrong person. Fredrik Egerman (Gunnar Bjornstrand) is married to a much younger Anne (Ulla Jacobsson) who remains a virgin. Fredrik's grown son, Henrik (Bjorn Bjelvenstam) is a minister and in love with Anne; Desiree Armfeldt (Eva Dahlback) is having an affair with Count Carl-Magnus (Jarl Kulle), but she's still got it bad for her ex-lover, the aforementioned Fredrik. Carl-Magnus' wife, Charlotte (Margit Carlquist) still loves her husband. And Petra (Hariett Andersson), the maid, likes having sex.And so it goes in this game of musical beds, attempted suicide, beds that come through the wall, a roll in the hay, and a carriage escape by night. The performances are delightful, particular from Eva Dahlbeck, whose Desiree has been around the block, and Ulla Jacobsson, who gives Anne a wonderful childlike quality. As the bereft minister, Bjorn Bjelvenstam plays it straight, making his misery all the funnier.The women in this film are absolutely beautiful, as is the cinematography. The starkness of the black and white images is quite stunning, and the landscape shots look like famous photographs.This is different from many Bergman films that were to come, and it's a lovely reminder that this man could do anything he set his mind to, including send in the clowns.

I've never heard of any of the actors. The characters include Frederik, a middle-aged lawyer who I hated on first sight with his smarmy beard and comb-forward hair; Anne, his 18-year- old wife; Henrik, Frederik's 20-something son (soon to be a pastor); Petra, the voluptuous teen-age maid; Desiree, the famous actress; the count and his wife; and various hangers on who lend much to the goings on.Generally, the plot is that Frederik, a widower, married a teen-ager after an affair with Desiree, who is now the mistress of the count. Desiree wants Frederik back, although it's not too clear why - but it advances the plot. If you've only seen Bergman's depressing, heavy dramas like "The Seventh Seal," "Wild Strawberries," and "Saraband," you'll be shocked to find that Bergman has an excellent hand for comedy, and he wrote and directed this movie. You can see Bergman's cold, thoughtless characters foreshadowed in Frederik, but here Frederik is more clueless than heartless.And although this is a very funny film, Bergman sets you up for a few stabs in your heart as his characters address the camera directly from time to time and unburden themselves of their innermost anger and hurt, catching you totally off guard. All the actors are excellent, and I was struck by the effective use of light and shadows both indoors and out.It's amazing how Bergman created each character as one immediately recognizable as a type without being stereotyped. The actor playing the count was remarkably physical in his presence without so much as a movement as he stood waiting for Frederik to leave. A bent spring tense with anticipated action. And Petra was an entire individual, not merely a two- dimensional jiggling caricature of a young maid. (According to the materials, the actress playing Petra had recently broken off her affair with Bergman - remember this as you watch Henrik's scenes with Petra.)I saw the movie on Criterion's DVD, and the extra materials said that Bergman's earlier movies were financial disasters; his studio told him if this movie wasn't a hit, it would no longer finance his films. After "Smiles of a Summer Night" was released, the studio showed it at the Cannes Film Festival, where it was a sensation. Bergman says he had to borrow airfare to get there. This movie made him internationally known, and the studio agreed to fund his next film. Bergman did "The Seventh Seal," which sealed his reputation as a world-class director.I haven't seen "A Midsumer Night's Sex Comedy" by Woody Allen since it came out, but I'd be surprised if "Smiles of a Summer Night" were not an inspiration for Allen's film. If you like one, I'm confident you'll like the other.I was confused over how bright it was outside during that long final night of the movie, when it was supposed to be one or two o'clock in the morning. I though the day for night shots were a failure. Then in the extra materials someone mentioned what I'd missed - it was mid-summer in Sweden, and the daylight lasted a very long time. It was a magical night and a magical movie with a very happy ending. Not like Bergman at all.

"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."