Synopsis
After fifteen films of mostly local acclaim, the 1956 prize-winning comedy Smiles of a Summer Night at last ushered in an international audience for director Ingmar Bergman. Set in turn-of-the-century Sweden, four women and four men attempt to juggle the laws of attraction amidst their daily bourgeois life. When a weekend in the country brings them all face to face, the women ally to force the men’s hands in their matters of the heart, exposing their pretensions and insecurities along the way. Chock full of flirtatious propositions and sharp-witted wisdom delivered by such legends of the Swedish screen as Gunnar Björnstrand, Eva Dahlbeck, Harriet Andersson, and Ulla Jacobsson, Smiles of a Summer Night is one of film history’s great tragicomedies, a bittersweet view of the transience of human carnality.
Cast
| Anne Egerman | Ulla Jacobsson |
| Desirée Armfeldt | Eva Dahlbeck |
| Petra, the maid | Harriet Andersson |
| Charlotte Malcolm | Margit Carlquist |
| Fredrik Egerman | Gunnar Bjornstrand |
| Carl-Magnus Malcolm | Jarl Kulle |
| Frid, the groom | Ake Fridell |
| Henrik Egerman | Björn Bjelvenstam |
| Mrs. Armfeldt | Naima Wifstrand |
| Beata, the cook | Jullan Kindahl |
| Malla | Gull Natorp |
| Actresses in play | Bibi Andersson |
| Actresses in play | Birgitta Valberg |
Credits
| Director | Ingmar Bergman |
| Screenplay | Ingmar Bergman |
| Cinematography | Gunnar Fischer |
| Assistant director | Lennart Olsson |
| Production manager | Allan Ekelund |
| Original music | Erik Nordgren |
| Conductor | Eskil Eckert-Lundin |
| Editing | Oskar Rosander |
| Sound | P.O. Pettersson |
| Production Design | P.A. Lundgren |
| Costume design | Mago |
| Makeup | Carl M. Lundh |
| Supervisor | Gustav Roger |
Disc Features
- New high-definition digital transfer, with restored image and sound
- Video introduction to the film by director Ingmar Bergman
- New video conversation with historian Peter Cowie and writer Jörn Donner (producer, Fanny and Alexander)
- Swedish theatrical trailer
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition
- Printed booklet including a new illustrated essay by renowned theater and film critic John Simon and an essay by film critic Pauline Kael
From the Current
Smiles of a Summer Night
by May 24, 2004Late in 1955 Ingmar Bergman made a nearly perfect work—the exquisite carnal comedy Smiles of a Summer Night. It was the distillation of elements he had worked with for several years in the 1952 Secrets of Women (originally called The
Related Films
The Auteurs Forum
Displaying 0 discussion topics.
