Crisi

I'm not a big fan of Bergman's directorial style but his "Wild Strawberries" I adore with all my heart which was a good enough reason for me to get acquainted with his filmography more closely. After watching a couple of uninteresting and weird movies of his I was beginning to lose hope and that's when I decided to dive into his early stuff and start with his debut body of work. 1946's "Crisis" shows only a hint of a future genius of Ingmar as a great playwright and a director. And precisely his remarkable script makes you want to stick with the movie for a while. It tells a story of fallen angels with their demons inside and how just one person can influence so many lives, make them do the things they don't want to do, lie and deceive and remain a human being after all. "Crisis" is a dark and psychological drama where there isn't any character you can really relate to or sympathize with but the plot and its characters will lead you to the ending with your mouth open. This is a good movie that stood the test of time and even 70 years later looks fresh, a bit too theatrical at times but this is Bergman we are talking about.

Ingmar Bergman started off his productive career as film director with 'Kris', a fine little gem. As the comments on this film are rather mixed, let me explain how I came to like it.

Having seen already a few Bergman films, I decided to do a retrospective of his work as a film director. I gathered as many of his films as possible, and started now watching them in chronological order. This allows the viewer to observe the evolution in a director's style.

While being familiar with films such as 'The Magician' and 'Jungfrükällan', I picked out 'Kris' for take-off. The first film of a director is usually not the best - keeping this in mind is important when watching it. If you have seen some of the greatest movies of a director, it's unlikely that you will be equally impressed by his debut.

I enjoyed 'Kris' thoroughly because I tend to ignore the occasional mistakes or failures and seek for those indications that show us a (lurking) genius. Watching 'Kris' this way makes it simply joyful, as one can see clearly an upcoming talent. The theatrical dramatization gives us clear hints of Bergman's favorite subjects which he will continue to explore in many of his later movies, such as the doomed destiny of human desire, surrounded by existential pain.

'Kris' is categorized as a drama here on IMDb - the first half is full of cheerful comedy though. Bergman informs his audience about this at the start of the movie, in order to prepare them for what is to follow. That is also the way I recommend you to watch this movie, or as Bergman describes: "This is an everyday play, perhaps even a comedy."

Enjoy,

I guess it is forgivable for a first film to be maudlin, with cardboard characters and silly dialogue. This is the story of a young woman who decides to get out of town because there is no future there. She lives with her dying stepmother, her real mother leaving her behind for 18 years. She just kind of flits through things because she has pretty much been adored. She is impetuous. I haven't seen such a tear jerking woman as her loving stepmother, maybe Mrs. March in little women. She goes to be a hair stylist and gets hooked up with some bad ones, including a wolfish playboy. Meanwhile some big lunk with a silly name, Ulfe, carries a torch for her. In fairness, it has lots of very good shots and is pretty polished for a first film. It's just a bit dull and silly and very predictable.

Nelly is far too contained, metaphorically tethered and chained, until Jack makes connection, Jenny sets defection, breaking habits for which she's been trained (or brainwashed as most of us are during our formative years).

Jack's clearly a bit of a lad, a deceiver, a liar, a cad, sneaky opportunist, loves to arrange a tryst, perpetually out on the gad (a stereotypical chancer who's been around for as long as woman have accommodated such characters).

Jenny likes to be among others, solitude is a feeling she smothers, but Nelly's deserter, has come to reclaim her, from Ingeborg who loves and still mothers (she wants her legacy to continue now she has the means, and Jack's attraction is wearing thin).

Ingeborg's overcome with emotion, a lifetime of love and devotion, now she's all alone, since Nelly's left home, a boat cast adrift in the ocean (alas, all children fledge sooner or later) .

Ulf has been patient and slow, waiting for Nelly to grow, now he's been rejected, not what he expected, full of seed he's unable to sow (in modern parlance, a groomer, how times change).

If you were in Nelly's small shoes, what would you do, who would you choose? The one thing I'd say, appreciate today, in the past, as a woman, you lose (although far too many still lose out today but there are better options or choices available).

Bergman's adaptation of Leck Fischer's play behaves like a stage play that has been slightly adapted for the screen. It is essentially a chamber melodrama and it makes little use of the cinema's expanded scope. The film is watchable and the cast is competent. Almost everything about it is competent. It was Bergman's first go at directing a film. He was 27/28 years old at the time.

Bergman is clearly influenced by Ibsen - I say "is", because the old master (nearly 85 years old now) is still at it on the stage - I have the privilege to hold tickets to see his adaptation of Ibsen's Ghosts in London May 2003 - can't wait. Kris is clearly influenced by Ibsen, but while the piece has borrowed Ibsen's mastery of structure and development, Kris lacks depth. If Ibsen is grand opera, Kris is operetta. Bergman had not yet acquired the skill to turn a minor play into a major film.

There is the odd hint of greatness to come, in particular the railway scene between Jack and Ingeborg. There is also the odd interesting camera angle. But some of the cutting is amateurish and the music is ghastly.

If the weatherman tells you that there is going to be a tremendous storm, you do not need to be a genius to recognise that the wispy breeze is a prelude to that storm. In the absence of that weather forecast, you could be forgiven for not recognising the breeze as an early hint at the big one. So it is with this film. Because we know it is Bergman, we see hints of greatness to come. Otherwise this would seem like an (admittedly above average) ordinary 1940's film.

Bergman aficionados will enjoy it, but it should be quite a way down the list for people who want to start discovering the greatness of Bergman's work.