Sommarnattens leende

In the beginning of the Twentieth Century, the successful fifty years old lawyer Fredrik Egerman (Gunnar Björnstrand) has been married for three years with his naive nineteen years old wife Anne (Ulla Jacobsson), who is still virgin. His adult son from his former marriage, Henrik (Björn Bjelvenstam), lives in celibate preparing to be a priest. Their servant is the young and futile Petra (Harriet Andersson), who easily falls in love for every man. When Frederik goes to the theater with Anne, he sees the actress and his former mistress Desiree Armfeldt (Eva Dahlbeck) and he meets her alone in her dressing room after the performance. They go to her house, Frederik falls in one puddle and she gives the robe and the pajamas of her present lover, the military Count Carl Magnus Malcolm (Jarl Kulle), who is married with Anne's friend Countess Charlotte Malcolm (Margit Carlquist). However, Malcolm unexpectedly arrives and after the unpleasant encounter of the trio, Desiree ends their relationship. On the next morning, Desiree plots a weekend in her mother's summer real state with Frederik, Anne, Henrik, Malcolm and Charlotte, with the intention of seducing Frederik again. Along the night, with the three smiles of love, four couples are formed.

"Sommarnattens Leende" is a delightful, cynical and witty romantic comedy with wonderful dialogs and situations. Showing a magnificent art direction and cinematography, this sardonic story discloses three different types of love: the pure of the youngsters, represented by Anne and Henrik; the silly and quite naive, represented by the maid Petra and the groom Frid; and the cynical and malicious of the arrogant Malcolm and Charlotte and the Machiavellian Desiree and Frederik. In the DVD, Ingmar Bergman explains the importance of this movie in his career, with the recognition of the Sweden Industry giving independence for him after the worldwide success of "Sommarnattens Leende" inclusive in Cannes Festival. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Sorrisos de Uma Noite de Amor" ("Smiles of a Night of Love")

This was director Ingmar Bergman's break-through film, the winner of the 1956 Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, the first of his many internationally acclaimed films. The story is a time honored one, referencing the same tradition of romantic complications found in Shakespeare's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM and Rostand's LA RONDE: every one is either in love with or married to the wrong person.

A famous actress with two very different lovers invites both, their wives, and the son of one lover to her mother's country estate in the hope of sorting out the romantic entanglements to her satisfaction--and the result is considerable charm and unexpectedly dry wit. All the performances are excellent, with Eva Dahlbeck's Desiree a standout, but the real star of this ensemble piece is the unexpectedly witty script. Never quite veering over into broad farce but never sinking into romantic sentimentality, it is a very precisely written tale, and both cast and director make the most of it.

In the face of Bergman's later work, SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT may seem rather slight, and indeed both psychology and cinematography is considerably less complex than one expects. Even so, it is very much a Bergman film: the visual style is distinct, and the themes of appearances vs. reality, the inability to correctly interpret another's behavior, and the failure to understand one's self are very much in evidence--only here to comic effect. It is in every way a charming film that Bergman fans will enjoy.

Incidentally, SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT was successfully translated to the stage as the musical A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, the score of which includes the famous "Send In The Clowns." Fans of the original film will be interested to compare the two works.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Charming, light-hearted, delicate, and romantic are not the terms most people think to use when describing Bergman films, and yet "Smiles of a Summer Night" is all of these. This is one of the most sophisticated romantic movies ever filmed, and a pure delight. It is a clever and witty romance based on the classic elements of French farce. Simply wonderful.

No matter how many films I see, whether they be foreign language or American or silent, early sound, or currently in theaters, I still find myself getting surprised by the content found in older films. "Smiles of a Summer Night" is a pretty edgy film, touching with great candor subject matters somewhat taboo today. And the film does this while being a complete joy to watch. This is certainly one of the great sex comedies and certain to be a good introduction to Bergman for those concerned about some of his tougher films. Besides, any Bergman fan should be proud of this film, because word has it that he had reached a crossroads, during a heavy bout with depression, before writing this film. He was either to commit suicide or write a comedy. The rest of his catalog and his canonized presence in film history shows what that decision brought us.

A rare comedy from director Ingmar Bergman.

It takes place at the turn of the century. Fredrik Egerman is an old, cynical man who is married to beautiful, young (20) Anne. She can't have sex with him--she's too afraid. He knows and agrees to be patient. He also has a son from a previous marriage (Henrik) who is attracted to Anne. He's also attracted to the maid Petra. Then there's Desiree, a former mistress of Fredrik who is now sleeping with Malcolm (who's also married) and still attracted to Fredrik. Got all that? They all end up spending a summer weekend at a beautiful house in the woods. Things come to a head.

I've always wanted to see this--the title alone is beautiful. I did see it in a revival theatre in the 1980s--I hated it. The print was lousy and edited! During a fairly explicit (for 1955) talk about sex the subtitles disappeared! Just saw it again--unedited and in pretty good shape. While I don't think this is a masterpiece (I'm not a Bergman fan) I did like this.

It is funny--but pretty subtle. The relationships are all complicated but you do have them straight by the end. What's really good about this film is how Bergman treats (and shows) his female characters. Except for Anne (but she changes) they're strong, stand up for themselves and find men and their ways amusing--some of Desirre's looks were very funny. Also, in the form of Petra, they want sex and have no problem letting men know. For 1955 audiences this must have been shocking--Petra (almost) bares her breast and the sexual talk between women is very frank.

The acting is good by everybody...but the film is lacking in romance. I never believed any of these characters loved each other. Also it's slow-moving but it all ends happily. So I did like it--I give it an 8.

Later musicalized by Stephen Sondheim as "A Little Night Music" and disastrously remade (sort of) in Woody Allen's "A Midsummers Night Sex Comedy". Avoid that one at all costs.