Frauenträume

A delightful film about the love of two women-the owner of a model agency and her top model. On a photographic outing to another city, both have strange day affairs with married men. The film, as relentless as it is tender, is a deeply probing study into the psyche of desire. Bergman's success is derived from exquisite scenes of austere romanticism and painful irony. Rarely has sexual obsession been so accurately observed. Dreams is yet another masterpiece by Bergman, yet sadly underrated and unknown. For anyone who appreciates great storytelling, and masterful filmmaking should do themselves a favor and watch "Dreams". Note: Look for Bergman's cameo as the man with the poodle at the hotel.

Dreams begins with a photography shoot. It is the land of Dreams. We meet Doris, the model. Soon we are drawn into her world. She is engaged. Trouble is, her beau is rather straight. She has big aspirations. She wants more out of life. But she is not the only one with dreams. The photographer, Susanne, is missing her ex lover. Trouble is, he broke the relationship off because he is married. She's not about to let that stop her.

To say more would be to ruin the plot, but we soon meet other characters who also have Dreams. It seems we all do, but more often than not, we are not allowed to achieve them. And perhaps that's not always a bad thing. We seem to spend most of our lives with desires, untapped and unreachable. Bergman knows this all too well, and tortures his characters with their yearnings, desires out of step with the mechanics of day to day living. It provides excellent drama. As always Bergman keeps the struggle between man and woman as tension filled lovers foremost in the frame. There is desire but it is fraught with problems.

It's not Bergman's best film. The characters can sometimes seem selfish, but this is the point. How do we exist in the world if we cannot have what we want? It's a heartbreaking realization.

Some say Bergman is the greatest Director the world has ever seen. I'm not sure about that. Tarkovsky was a visual genius, but Bergman is certainly more intimate, his stories personal and instantly identifiable. He achieves success again with Dreams.

Ingmar Bergman's early film Dreams (1955), beautiful but sadly underrated and little known, presents the stories about two dissimilar women and their loves, and touches on all the timeless and tough realities of torment, longing, loneliness, and aging in a simple and sublime way. Everyone who ever was madly and desperately in love and for some reasons could not be with the object of their longing should appreciate this film. Speaking of making Dreams, Ingmar Bergman comments, "By this time Harriet (Andersson) and I had terminated our relationship, and we were both feeling quite sad. Our sadness weighs down the film". Bergman regulars Harriet Andersson and Eva Dahlbeck (both will play in the same year's Smiles of a Summer Night, a very successful and sparkling Bergman's comedy) portray two women, the owner of a model agency, Doris (Dahlbeck) and her top model, Susanne (Andersson). A major figure in Ingmar Bergman's films of the 1950s, Eva Dahlbeck was stunning - an elegant, poised, sophisticated classical blonde beauty with high intelligence and the talents in acting and writing.

Harriet Andersson was discovered at the age of 20 by Ingmar Bergman who made especially for her screen debut the film "Summer with Monica". Extraordinary and versatile as an actress, her roles ranged from the naive young girls with erotic charisma to the young woman losing her grip with reality in Through a glass darkly (1962) to the fearless breakthrough performance as a dying woman in Cries and Whispers. In Dreams, she is absolutely charming. Camera loved her - sexy, sweet, and innocent, she lit the screen in her every scene.

A very minor Bergman work, the film has traces of his style, especially in the first few scenes with quick edits and close-ups to draw attention to detail, as well as a well-filmed roller coaster ride. However, the screenplay does not match the quality of the directing, with basically two stories that do not gel all that well together. What the film is meant to be a study of is never clearly focused, with themes of desire as well as women's liberation both present. The middle section of the film dragged a little too, but still it is interesting to see such an early piece of work from Bergman. It is not much compared to what would later come in his career, but the film has enough interesting elements to certainly make it worth a look.

I really liked this lesser-known Bergman film. More properly translated as The Dreams of Women, the film stars Eva Dahlbeck and Harriet Andersson as a photographer and her model. The two travel to a location shoot, and the story splits in two as each has their own romantic misadventure. Andersson is admired by an older, rich man (Gunnar Bjornstrand), who buys her all kinds of nice things. Eventually, she follows him back to his home where she learns of his troubles. Dahlbeck contacts a married man with whom she was having an affair (Ulf Palme), and when the two meet Palme's wife shows up to disrupt the assignation. The Dahlbeck segment is pretty typical Bergman, but, of course, it's beautifully done with some fantastic acting by Dahlbeck. I thought the Andresson/Bjornstrand segment was just wonderful. I think this might be Bjornstrand's best performance. Certainly very high up there. I also really loved Kerstin Hedeby, who plays Bjornstrand's daughter. This may feel like a small film in Bergman's career, but it's an excellent small one. The laid-back style, especially the long, wordless sequences, reminds me more of the Italian films of the period than of Bergman. This certainly would be better regarded if it were directed by Visconti or Antonioni. 9/10. YES.