The Worst Film Ever

Such a frustrating disappointment

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

In early 19th century Sweden, a group of people gathers at a country estate and romantic entanglements ensue. A Bergman comedy? Sounds like an oxymoron. Who knew Ingmar could be funny? He shows quite a flair for comedy when he puts his mind to it. There are stretches of playful and witty dialog in this enjoyable film, but it is interspersed with dramatic scenes that are more in line with what this director is famed for. The cast, featuring a quartet of lovely actresses, is terrific, and includes such Bergman regulars as Andersson and Bjornstrand. Kulle is hilarious as a pompous count who tries to find a happy medium between his wife and his mistress.

Fredrik Egerman is troubled; he has a young wife whom he fears he loves as a doting father than a husband. He seeks help from an old flame, Desiree, who is having an affair with a pompous soldier, Count Malcolm. Desiree invites both men and their wives and Egerman's gloomy son Henrik to her mother's country house for the weekend ...This touching, funny and beautifully observed comedy of sexual manners is one of my favourite Bergman films, made just before he was about to become a key figure in world cinema with movies like Det Sjunde Inseglet and Smultronstället. If you only know him for his heavy-going introspective dramas like Persona and Viskningar Och Rop, check this out as a means of contrast. The story is wonderfully sweet, the characters are sharp and brilliantly played by the entire ensemble and the dialogue will make you chuckle throughout (particularly Wifstrand as the dotty mother with the short attention span). As with all his work, it's Bergman's insight into the universal frailties of human nature that makes the movie so touching; we have a man who has married for beauty not love, a femme fatale who is tired of twisting men around her finger, young lovers who careen between ecstatic joy and suicidal misery, a man who foolishly ranks his pride above all else, and a self-loathing wife who can't stop loving a cheating husband. Bergman dances these characters around each other, making his points with subtle skill and entertaining us with style and wit. The four Swedish female leads - Dahlbeck, Jacobsson, Andersson and Carlqvist - are all stunningly beautiful women. Loosely remade twice; once as a Stephen Sondheim musical (A Little Night Music) and also as a charming Woody Allen farce (A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy). English title - Smiles Of A Summer Night.

This movie reminds me so much of the French film "The Rules of the Game" ("Règle du jeu") because both are set in upper-crust society and concern the many affairs that ensued. This film, though, is a little different in that the humor is MUCH more restrained and not nearly as over-the-top as Renoir's flick AND the main characters in this Swedish film try to pretend to have conventional morality--whereas in the French film adultery is a little more openly accepted. Also, although The Rules of the Game is often ranked as one of the best foreign films, I think Bergman's is actually a better film. Why? First, there seems to be more of a message to the film--despite a cynical look at conventional marriage, the film SEEMS to actually support it in some ways (though not for every couple). Secondly, the Bergman film also looks prettier--almost like a fairy tale at times.While "sex farces" are NOT my cup of tea, if you MUST watch one, this one's about as good as any.

The bouncing music and rather silly acting inform us that what we are watching is a comedy. If it were not for those two aspects, it would be easy to mistake the film for a plain drama. The reason for this is that there are no jokes or gags as such. Bergman injects into the script a few witty lines, but I can only guess that some humour is meant to blossom from the film having a satirical viewpoint on love. A comedy does not have to be funny for it to be effective, but if it is not funny it makes the comic aspects redundant. The characters are all developed around love and desire, rather than their own character traits, and there are a few others thing that one could complain about, but either way the film nevertheless says a few things about love. As usual Bergman does a great job setting up all the shots. It is interesting stuff on a visual level, with fitting lighting choices and some long pans. And as with just about every Bergman film, it is worth a look. However, it is difficult for me to recommend this awkward comedy as one of his better films, even though it is the film that really brought Bergman into the spotlight.