Smiles of a Summer Night

Ingmar Bergman

 
Smiles of a Summer Night (Criterion Blu-Ray)

Blu-Ray

1 Disc

SRP: $39.95

Criterion Store price:$31.96

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  • Sweden
  • 1955
  • 108 minutes
  • Black and White
  • 1.33:1
  • Swedish
  •  
  • Spine #237

SYNOPSIS: 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.

Cast & CreditsOpen

Cast

Anne EgermanUlla Jacobsson
Desirée ArmfeldtEva Dahlbeck
Petra, the maidHarriet Andersson
Charlotte MalcolmMargit Carlqvist
Fredrik EgermanGunnar Björnstrand
Carl-Magnus MalcolmJarl Kulle
Frid, the groomAke Fridell
Henrik EgermanBjörn Bjelvenstam
Mrs. ArmfeldtNaima Wifstrand
Beata, the cookJullan Kindahl
MallaGull Natorp
Actresses in playBibi Andersson
Actresses in playBirgitta Valberg

Credits

DirectorIngmar Bergman
ScreenplayIngmar Bergman
CinematographyGunnar Fischer
EditingOskar Rosander
Assistant directorLennart Olsson
Production managerAllan Ekelund
Original musicErik Nordgren
ConductorEskil Eckert-Lundin
SoundP. O. Pettersson
Production designP. A. Lundgren
Costume designMago
MakeupCarl M. Lundh
SupervisorGustav Roger

Disc Features

  • Digital restoration (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
  • Video introduction to the film by director Ingmar Bergman
  • Video conversation between Bergman scholar Peter Cowie and writer Jörn Donner, executive producer of Fanny and Alexander
  • Original theatrical trailer
  • PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by theater and film critic John Simon and a 1961 review by film critic Pauline Kael

From the CurrentView the Current »

Film Essays

Pauline Kael on Smiles of a Summer Night

May 24, 2004

Late 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 Read more »

Smiles of a Summer Night: Midsummer Merry-Go-Round

By John SimonMay 24, 2004

What do you do when you are thoroughly miserable? A serious love affair is over, and a marriage to a wonderful woman is ending. Two of your films have bombed at the box Read more »

Other Editions

Smiles of a Summer Night (Criterion DVD)

DVD

1 Disc

SRP: $29.95

Criterion Store price:$23.96

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