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Ingmar Bergman's 1953 "Summer with Monika" was chopped down from 92 mins to barely over an hour and shown in America as the provocatively titled "Monika, the Story of a Bad Girl", promoted with saucy posters and even nude postcards. But cool your engines because there's nothing very sexually explicit; if Monika is indeed a "bad girl" that's because she makes some very bad, selfish & inconsiderate choices. Not exactly the "bad girl" of your dreams but more like the crazy girlfriend who ruined your life.

"Monika" (Harriet Andersson) is an 18 year old girl who dreams of escaping her impoverished life but with little foresight beyond that. Enter "Harry" (Lars Ekborg) who is also dissatisfied with his lowly station, but he has a somewhat clearer head about him. In an impulsive moment, the two run off to an island believing they can live forever in a summer of blissful denial. And thus the theme is set: how long can lovers survive "living in the moment"?

Gorgeously shot and expertly acted, this film is definitely a treat to watch. However, you may find yourself disliking, or even hating, the character Monika for the way she tramples all over everyone's life to suit herself. Although she is admirable in her fearless rebellion against conventions, she is shown to be almost childishly self-absorbed. Thus she isn't quite the classy, intriguing female protagonist of "Summer Interlude" (Bergman's film 2 years prior) but she's almost like a deliberate caricature of that character--a tantrum-throwing wild child which Bergman literally illustrates in one memorable scene as she's scurrying through the woods, dirty faced and disheveled, tearing at a piece of meat she had just stolen. Watching "Summer with Monika" back to back with "Summer Interlude" is quite an experience, and I highly recommend it to those of you who are interested in this side of Bergman.

During filming, Bergman and his leading actress Harriet Andersson were having a short but passionate affair, and critics have said that this resulted in the film being a "love letter" to Andersson. Definitely the camera is very attentive to her, and there are some fabulous shots that capture not only her impish beauty but also her cruel, darker side that's not as glamorous but every bit as engaging. But as for it being a love letter to her? I don't think so; if anything it feels more like an exposé, a poetic yet brutal ode to that "bad girl" our momma always warned us about.

Monika feels trapped, in despair, her future is bleak and laid bare, she needs to break free, escape, run and flee, with a boy who is willing to care.

Harry is a boy that can care, spends his days wishing he was elsewhere, now he's met a nice girl, and they're off for a whirl, a summer like no other can compare.

To love, through a long hot summer, without a care or a bother, just to be in the arms of each other, to smother, enrapture and cover - what could possibly go wrong! Monika and Harry find the inevitable fork in the road, where habit and repetition branch from joy and satisfaction, and sacrifice will not recompense or suffice, at least for one.

Contains that look that says it all.

Summer with Monika is a very fine, sometimes masterful showcase of what would be to come with Ingmar Bergman's more notable and personal dramas. That is, in the technical side of things; here he uses a lot of shots that are simply there for the location, the imagery of the rocks and beach and waters where the characters are at. It's much more in a sense of a documentary of these two people than a usual tale of young love. But it's a good story at the core, and in it Bergman also establishes one of the actresses that would become crucial to his career.

Harriet Andersson is remarkable as the happy, though high strung and (as one in my generation might call) 'needy' Monika, who works at a vegetable stand. She meets Harry (Ekberg) in a bar one day, and the two hit it off after later seeing a movie. Monika's home life is the pits, as is Harry's work environment. So, they act on an impulse to get away for the summer to an island. Out of that comes what is very natural in a relationship- happiness, love, despair, hunger, and the oncoming (unplanned) child. The third act goes as how one might expect, but the way it's filmed and acted is still extraordinary.

Once Bergman gets his film on the water, he just shoots and shoots. Some of this may not seem to go anywhere, some of it may just seem like shots of animals and rocks. But I have a feeling Bergman was likely inspired by either painters or the neo-realists with their documentary feel. If nothing else, everything feels very much alive and real with how the characters talk and act to each other, and that doesn't lose its ground after fifty years.

Some shots here and there (one when Monika is out one night, when Harry is not at home, is intriguing on how it just stays on her, and how it's lit) are some of the more memorable ones of the 1950's for the director. I also liked how the characters were believably stuck in the middle of a very plausible dilemma- do they keep on going on with a great, bit love affair alone and off from civilization, or do they face up to what they have to do with living? It's a tragic, somewhat obvious conclusion, but the way it's told is how it scores some points.

Basically, Summer with Monika is a fresh, dark love story that may appeal to those looking for a good alternative to a film of today loaded with cynicism or delight in the shrill conventions with the characters. One may have seen characters like Monika and Harry in other films, yet they are fitting for the style of Bergman's precise bittersweet whimsy and depth.

It is a very sensitive and solid story about love and loss. It fascinates you from the beginning, first of all because of the beauty of the images and then by the credibility of the characters. There's also plenty of small human details which together make a whole masterpiece (The moment that Monika turns and stares to the camera is one of them). Strangely enough, this movie is never mentioned among the best made by Bergman. But it is a great movie.

He wasn't always the old glum maestro. Although the young lovers in "Summer with Monika" might have fitted quite easily into a British Kitchen Sink film, this early Bergman is less grim than we later came to expect and although minor, this film has much to admire; it actually reminded me a bit of "A Kind of Loving".

A young Harriet Andersson is Monika and Lars Ekborg is Harry, the boy who loves her enough to want to spend a lot longer than just the summer with her. You might say that for Bergman this is a very simple picture filled with very simple people but Bergman treats them with a fair degree of sympathy. Monika may be just a little tart or simply a young woman trapped in an early marriage while Harry is always seen as trying to do the decent thing and the ending, if not exactly upbeat, is less of a Bergman downer than usual. No masterpiece, then, but an essential part of the canon nevertheless.

Ingmar Bergman's Monika (Summer with Monika) (1953) is the story of two Stockholm teenagers, stock boy Harry (Lars Ekborg) and voluptuous, impulsive Monika (Harriet Andersson), who meet and fall in love and run away for a summer on a motorboat on the Stockholm archipelago escaping from work and all responsibility. Monika becomes pregnant and they return to the city and marry – but things turn bad. This first powerful feature by the Swedish master is simple and sweet but nonetheless rich in emotional wrenching events. The film, which depicts teenage unwed sex, was shockingly sensual for its time. In 2006 the intensity of Harriet Andersson's uninhibited performance is still impressive and this story is just as heartbreaking as it was over half a century ago.

Presented as part of the Janus Films sidebar of the 2006 New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center in another gorgeous pristine-looking new print with a rich black and white tonal range that may look better than the original did.

Why should you see this movie? I can think many reasons: Because it has beautiful and perfect scenes, because it was made in the 50's and it's amazingly contemporary, because the characters are extremely interesting... This kind of movies shows us that there's no need to spend 10 million dollars to produce a film... It proves us that a simple story, with a simple production can be more transcendental than a film that cost millions.

The story is simple, but it forces us to think about freedom, love, oppression, decision, and about the things we can or cannot change about ourselves and the others. As a conclusion, I can say that seeing this movie is a worthy experience.

Not the very best Bergman but an intriguing film. Must have seemed very racey in 1953 with a little nudity but primarily because the "heroine" is so morally lax.

Harriet Andersson has been good in everything I have seen her in; this film is no exception.

Lars Ekborg (a Leonardo DiCaprio look alike of sorts) is also very good as the love struck loser Harry.

It is all a pretty pessimistic take on young love, Bergman once again seeming to share Strindberg's harsh take on the female gender.

The film has its moments - the beach scene and the astonishing close up on Monika's unblinking face when she starts fooling around when Harry is away working and Harry's aunt thinks Monika is working.

One to progress to when working through the Bergman canon, but not the place to start.

In Ingmar Bergman's 1953 film SOMMAREN MED MONIKA (The Summer with Monika), young, idealistic Harry (Lars Ekborg) meets the freespirited Monika (Harriet Andersson). Fed up with their dull stockroom jobs as midsummer approaches, they quit and and escape together to one of the myriad islands in the Stockholm archipelago. But while Harry is keen to get back to civilization and further his education in order to support the child they will soon have, Harriet thinks little of the future, pursuing her own whims of the moment. Harry is definitely the protagonist here, and receives the sympathy of the viewer as this bad girl tears his life apart.

Upon its release, this film was a major contribution to Sweden's mid-century reputation as a sexually liberated place. However, that's all very much in the past. There is only one scene of (rear) nudity, and for the most part what 1950s audiences found scandalous is just some snogging that wouldn't raise eyebrows today. Still, Andersson does know how to flaunt her sex appeal, her full lips and proportioned figure, to the camera.

In my opinion, this is not one of the greatest films of the auteur scene. Ingmar Bergman would go on to create a series of masterpieces that totally shook my world, but SOMMAREN MED MONIKA is a somewhat ordinary study of working class life and a morality tale much like British audiences would start getting with their kitchen sink dramas (e.g. BILLY LIAR) in the following years. There is also a totally contrived -- and rather inexplicable -- fight scene that Bergman needlessly uses to make Harry look chivalrous. Still, it is interesting to see a Sweden of severe class divisions that is now almost gone, with alcoholism-stricken families in dire poverty living alongside more fortunate Stockholm residents who keep servants. The first third of the film is almost like listening to an Allan Pettersson symphony.

All in all, the film is entertaining and teaches us something about an earlier time and place, but don't think this is one of the more serious films that established Ingmar Bergman as one of the most daring and insightful filmmakers of the 20th century.

A sad tale of two lovers who meet in a high emotional state and break up because the lady, Monika becomes bored with the relationship. About the highs and lows of love. Very beautiful in depicting the relationship between Harry and Monika. Its easy to sympathize with Harry because no matter how hard he tries to make Monika happy he always seems to fail. It was during the filming of this movie that Ingmar Bergman left his wife for the actress, Harriet Andersson(an act which he would regret and influence him for the rest of his career). This act would greatly influence Wild Strawberries(1957), Persona(1966), The Touch(1971), Cries & Whispers(1972), and would inspire the Liv Ullman film, Faithless. The director delivers a film of powerful emotions and raw feelings. Harriet Andersson is magnificent as the title character. Sommaren Med Monika/Monika(1953) is the first of many great motion pictures for the legendary filmmaker and visual poet, Ingmar Bergman.

The first half recalls Bergman's earlier 'Summer Interlude'. But the second half goes further and explores the 'what if' of the summer romance between teens; moving into parenthood, marriage, and disillusionment.

The acting is excellent, and unlike 'Summer Interlude' these actors look close to the naive age they're playing.

The film's point of view sometimes felt a bit one sided to me with 'bad girl' Monika, from a crude, poor family, less willing to extend herself than her upper-class boyfriend Harry. Of course, along with being selfish she is also the more complex and fascinating character, especially as played by the young Harriett Andersson.

Some critics make the argument – with merit – that the film doesn't judge Monika,the audience does. Indeed, it could be argued that the film is meant to make us question our own judgment of a poor girl who is brought up with dreams of marriage as a glamorous escape, and not just a humdrum existence. It's not for nothing the heroine is obsessed with Hollywood love stories.

Andersson's performance may be the first of the many hyper-real and extremely complex characters in Bergman's body of work, transcending 'type' and moral judgment.

The film was beloved by the French New wave filmmakers, who saw in it's complex attitude (and very brief nudity) a throwing off of the shackles of conventional characters and storytelling.

For a film which was released in 1953, 'Summer with Monika' has some scenes that are pretty risqué. Bergman uses some eroticism to decorate the intensity of the young love that blossoms between Monika and Harry. This is at its core a coming-of-age film, specially from Harry's point of view. Two youngsters of contrasting attitudes, contrasting backgrounds and contrasting aspirations get attracted to each other and we witness their innocent, yet intensely passionate love affair. They leave the civilisation of the city behind and start exploring life in a new way together in the midst of the wilderness of the country isolated from the general population.

However as it invariably happens, life refuses to allow these youngsters an extended spell of joy and somewhat inevitably, worldly realism starts to eat into romanticism. But as happens with every unhappy reality, this proves to be a learning experience for Harry and it ends up learning something about himself, about others and about life. Some viewers might opine that Bergman goes a little overboard and somewhat vilifies Monika a bit too much, but I think it is a depiction of the reality that awaits everyone who embarks on a journey which requires maturity while still being immature.

'Summer with Monika' includes some of the quintessential Bergman elements like long takes, extended extreme close-ups to underline internal conflict or emotional shift, lingering shots of nature, symbolism, etc. However the metaphors get a bit too on-the-nose at times here. Specially the character of Lelle appears abruptly on multiple occasions without any logic, just to act as a metaphor which is somewhat off-putting.

Harriet Andersson and Lars Ekborg are really good as Monika and Harry respectively. They make their characters as well as their relationship believable and passionate which makes us root for the 'happily ever-after'.

'Summer with Monika' is certainly not one of Bergman's best films. But it does contain some of the masterful touches that Bergman would polish even further to make numerous masterpieces. But even then, I think 'Summer with Monika' deserves to be seen as an early piece of work from one of the masters that has something to say about the brutality of life.

Sommaren med Monika, often translated as Monika, the Story of a Bad Girl, but directly it is Summer with Monika, I prefer the latter. Summer with Monika is Ingmar Bergman's early masterful classic. It's European modernism and as many of Bergman's films of that era, this film too dealt with social issues. Even that Ingmar Bergman himself was from a bourgeois family, Summer with Monika builds around the working class. It's a story about two youngsters who fall in love and start living a life of their own.

Monika is a minor girl who doesn't get along with her parents. Her only escape from the harsh family life is romantic cinema and her boyfriend, Harry. In result of the distressing life Monika and Harry escape the city to archipelago for the summer. When the summer's over and they come back, the love between them starts to fade.

I have yet not seen as strong film about young parenthood as this. It shows the truth in a very realistic light, Bergman doesn't add any glamor to its characters' lives, which he never does. This is the social theme of Summer with Monika, young parenthood and the subject is still very current, which makes the film timeless. No director of today has succeed in making as good description of the life like that.

Summer with Monika is so beautifully made that it delights you. The plot also has some points that delight the audience, but I was mostly touched by the beauty of the narrative and cinematography. Both of these are clearly European modernism in Summer with Monika. The camera goes behind the reality, it shows the true emotions of the characters. A very impressive scene of the film is when Monika watches directly to the camera. This shocking destruction of the fourth wall and the illusion of cinema, was probably the first one ever made. My information of this is not accurate or reliable, but at least Summer with Monika was one of the first ones, that did this.

A very powerful film of love, youth, parenthood, frustration and life.

Good early Bergman which is surprisingly easy-going for the most part – displaying rare moments of tenderness in its relationship between a young couple. This is probably due to the fact that he didn’t write the script himself – so that the film is generally free of the director’s trademark spiritual probing (often descending into histrionics). However, it does turn sober halfway through (with the couple’s dream of independence having gone sour and their even less happy married life) – and, by the end, the thin plot and deliberate pacing ensure that the film becomes just as tiresome as the typical Bergman outing! Still, there are considerable assets: above all Harriet Andersson’s radiant leading performance (in the first of 11 collaborations with the director – her brief nude scene in this film proved a sensation) and Bergman’s keen perception of the human condition (here also demonstrating an exceptional feel for nature and the remote Scandinavian landscape).

This is the first Bergman movie I comment on. Not because it's one of his best, it's definitely not, imo. And not because it's one of my favorite Bergman movies, because it's not.

This film is not your typical Bergman movie. It belongs to his early career, and there is not much about religion or subtle symbolisms. It's just a simple beautiful movie which makes you think, not with sorrow, but with love. There are so many beautiful and original scenes, and the movie is so contemporary - it's definitely underrated.

I would say this is one of the best works belonging to his early career. It's simplicity and true beauty will leave you thinking about it for a long time and keep you returning to it again and again.

9/10

By far one of the more likeable Bergman Dramas simply for having characters that feel like people. With real problems and aspirations.

The plot's simple: Whirlwind romance takes us, from humdrum lives, to a glorious summer and then back, painfully, to reality.

The unusual amount of pathos and lack of pretence works both for and against it since it does get kind of depressing given the whole thing is rather humorless and with no real point beyond bleak lives ultimately being bleaker exactly because they tried to find an escape from bleakness.

It is stylish and well charactized though with a bitter, but vulnerable and wholly empathetic performance as "Monika".

It's Not So Badlands, as two lovers go on the run, or the river to be more precise for some summer lovin'. It's realistic and comments stupendously on society and is still relevant today. If you thought Juno was real word on teenage pregnancy check again. It's a genuinely affective romance, though hard to decipher if Monika is a total bitch or simply childish and naive. It certainly highlights the responsibilities that need to be taken and shows for once the man being the outstanding role model the child can look up to. An unplanned partner in crime to the recent Sherrybaby. It becomes slightly melodramatic towards the end but Bergman's pacing and visuals keep it together.