Skepp till India land

After seven years at sea, Johannes Blom (Birger Malmsten) returns to his hometown seeking out Sally (Gertrud Fridh), who is depressed and isolated in her room. Johannes recalls his life seven years ago, when he lived with his despotic and brutal father Captain Alexander Blom (Holger Löwenadler) and his abused mother Alice Blom (Anna Lindahl) in an old vessel working in salvage services. The hunchback Johannes has been rejected by his father since he was born and has survived and grown full of anger. When Alexander discovers that he will be blind in less than one year, he brings his mistress Sally to live with him on board of his ship expecting to leave Alice and travel abroad with Sally. But Johannes and Sally fall in love with each other and the hatred of Alexander for Johannes leads to the family to a tragic end.

"Skepp Till India Land" is the third film of master Ingmar Bergman with the story of a triangle of love among an abusive father, his abused son and his mistress. Captain Alexander Blom is one of the most despicable characters I have ever seen with his tyrannical and indifferent behavior regarding his wife and his own son. Alice Blom is an abused wife that has the only motivation of having a cottage and a pension of Alexander's employers in an after-war period (this is a 1947 film). Johannes is man without self-esteem or self-respect, abused since he was a child that reacts to his father's brutality when he is infatuated on Sally, an anguished and disillusioned showgirl that has no hopes or expectations with men. The result is a bitter and anguished love story. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Um Barco para a Índia" ("A Boat to India")

Was only introduced to Ingmar Bergman seven years ago and very quickly he landed on my list of best and most influential directors. He did have occasional disappointments here and there (a vast majority of directors did/do), such as 'All Those Women' and 'The Serpent's Egg'. But he was great once he found his style, and quite a lot of his films are masterpieces such as 'The Seventh Seal', 'Fanny and Alexander', 'Wild Strawberries', 'Cries and Whispers', 'Persona' and 'The Virgin Spring'.

His third film 'A Ship to India' as director, following on from 'Crisis' and 'It Rains on Our Love', is a long way from being one of the master's best. Then again this was very early on in his career and when he was still finding his style properly. For such early Bergman however, 'A Ship to India' is a very interesting film and one can see signs of his distinctive style and themes already, it is also a not bad at all one. Actually thought it was quite well done on the whole.

As always for a Bergman film, there is some very nice photography (though this aspect has certainly been done better and more inspired in later Bergman films). Likewise with good use of very atmospheric locations. Bergman's direction became more refined and instinctive later on, then again it is early days, but one can definitely see a lot of promise here. The script s thoughtful, having the tension and emotion necessary.

The story is unmistakable Bergman in terms of themes and the tensions between the characters are believable. Emotionally it didn't feel cold. The acting is very strong from a chillingly cruel Holger Lowenadler and Birger Malmsten portrays a character worth relating to.

For all those good things, the uneven character writing also works against 'A Ship to India'. It is agreed that motivations are hard to buy, due to them being introduced suddenly without much warning and contradicting anything sad before. There were things crying out for explanation left hanging in the air.

On the most part the photography is fine but parts are a bit on the drab side. Some of the intensity wavers later on, with a few dreary moments.

Summarising, interesting and well done but Bergman is not at his best here. 7/10

But it's not one of his best. The characterizations of the film's protagonists are inconsistent from scene to scene and some of them leave a viewer with many unanswered questions (like the mother's motivations.) Beyond that, the cinematography is pretty dowdy, particularly the exterior footage.

Still, it has elements that Bergman fans will recognize from his more famous films, and it contains sequences of despair and anguish that can haunt a viewer days later. Birger Malmsten, who plays the lead character Johannes and who will be seen in several later Bergman films, is immensely likable and compelling as the hunchback son who finally stands up to his despotic father. While many of the early Bergman films are uninteresting at almost every level ("Port of Call," for instance) this one is well worth a look for the hard core Bergmaniac, if you can find it.

Alexander's a terrible parent, his attitude completely aberrant, treats Alice a slave, gallivants misbehaves, believes Sally can make him content (he's never come to terms with his son's affliction).

Alice's dream has been shattered, the cottage and pension in tatters, her husbands' new hopes, leave her on the ropes, their love, devotion, all but scattered (treated like a second class person and casually discarded).

Sally reached for the hand proffered, escaping surrounds she'd been coffered, didn't reckon on Johannes, or her saviour's menace, has to live with the choice going forward (who wouldn't latch onto something that can pull them from the depths).

Johannes back from seven years, at sea to wash away all the tears, finds Sally alone, isolated and prone, sets his sail to remember past fears (afflicted from birth, both physically and psychologically).

Exploring past events between a son and his toxic father, the events leading up to the son's departure and the love he left behind under challenging circumstances. Sincere and great performances in a truly engaging tale.

The baggage the youthful Ingmar Bergman was carrying about his parent's generation finds vivid expression in this, his third feature, from his early "neo-realist" phase, which combines an extremely melodramatic plot about a hunch-backed young man (Birger Malmsten) struggling with the baleful influence of his macho, bullying father (Holger Löwenadler), set against an arresting backdrop of documentary-style footage of life among working folk. The noisy musical score by Erland von Koch marks it out as a very early Bergman.