Friday, June 10, 2011

Smiles of a Summer Night (1955)

Smiles of a Summer Night / Sommarnattens leende (1955)
Smiles of a Summer Night / Sommarnattens leende (1955)

Genre: Comedy
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Starring: Ulla Jacobsson, Eva Dahlbeck, Gunnar Bjornstrand, Jarl Kulle
Duration: 108 min.
Rating: 7.0

Summary:
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.



Smiles of a Summer Night is a film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman.  The first internationally successful film for Bergman, it was awarded the Grand Prix for best comedy at the 9th Cannes Film Festival in 1956.

An unusually light and cheerful film from Bergman, Smiles of a Summer Night is a romantic comedy that follows a group of couples on a weekend in the country.  It is delightful to watch, with beautiful period costumes, set pieces, and an absolutely stunning female cast.  The acting, staged much like a theatrical play works well here, and there are some witty exchanges and some rather risque scenes and dialog for a mid 50s film.  Though the story isn't as charming, funny, or as clever as I hoped.

The newly released Criterion Collection Blu-Ray is good but not quite as impressive as their other releases of late, with some minor graininess and lighting issues here and there, but still a very high quality picture.  Overall, Smiles of a Summer Night is an interesting watch for fans of Bergman, but not essential viewing.

Smiles of a Summer Night / Sommarnattens leende (1955)

Smiles of a Summer Night / Sommarnattens leende (1955)

Smiles of a Summer Night / Sommarnattens leende (1955)

Smiles of a Summer Night / Sommarnattens leende (1955)

Smiles of a Summer Night / Sommarnattens leende (1955)

Smiles of a Summer Night / Sommarnattens leende (1955)

Smiles of a Summer Night / Sommarnattens leende (1955)

Smiles of a Summer Night / Sommarnattens leende (1955)

12 comments:

Tim B. said...

So it's like the original romantic comedy then? Ha, are we gonna see a remake soon, or was 'Sex in the City' close enough?

Martin Müller said...

Looks really cool that movie! I'll watch it.

The Angry Lurker said...

Had heard of it but have never seen it.

Jack L said...

I really need to see more Bergman. This doesn't seem essential though so I won't bother with it right now...
Interesting review though!

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Not quite, I believe Shakespeare had the original one, and this ones already been remade a few times but I wouldn't bet against another one in the works.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Me too, I've only seen a couple others.  He'd be a good subject for a marathon.

d_4 said...

That felt a bit cheesy to me. But then the add the romantic comedy status.. and the fact that it's not all that funny, and well, it doesn't seem all that amazing. Eh? Eh.

Hermann Rorschach said...

I'll pass on the movie, but that poster for it is very awesome and appealing to me.

thevoid99 said...

It's been a few years since I've seen the film and I have a review that I wrote back at Epinions.com that I plan to move to my blog soon.  I liked it though there's other films by Bergman I prefer like "Wild Strawberries", "Persona", and "Cries & Whispers".

Thenitefalls said...

Ingmar Bergman is amazing! I need to see more his movies I only seen The Seventh Seal!

Adalmin said...

I'm actually surprised that Bergman directed a romantic comedy of all things o.0

Lesya said...

I need to see this one. I'm not a fan of Bergman though.

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