Intermezzo: Uma História de Amor

What's the difference between the 1936 and 1939 Intermezzo films? Not much, except that one's in English and the other's in Swedish. Both are exactly the same story, and both star Ingrid Bergman as the alluring other woman who makes a decent family man stray. Basically, you just have to make the choice of whether you want to read subtitles or not.

In this Swedish version, Gosta Ekman is a respected violinist who has two children and a devoted wife. Ingrid is a pianist, and when she starts teaching his little girl how to play, they both start fantasizing about playing duets together. This is a very 1930s plot line, where the woman is the great temptress and the man is practically possessed by his feelings for her. Like in The Blue Angel, the man is not an active participant, but is instead the victim. Sometimes that is the case in real life, when homewreckers really go out their way to seduce a married man. But most of the time, as in the immortal words from French Kiss, they don't "steal anything that doesn't want to be stolen", so a lot of these 1930s movies aren't that realistic. However, if you want to see a very, very young Ingrid Bergman speaking in her native tongue, you can rent it. She doesn't play a femme fatale; in fact, her character is quite sweet, but just keep in mind the blame doesn't rest solely on her shoulders.

The Swedish version of "Intermezzo" is so heartwrenching that it must be true. Okay, so maybe that's an exaggeration, but this film is certainly one of the greatest screen romance films. It's definitely a film for artists, who need to always attempt to balance their lives between the home fires and the passion of one's creative calling. Watching this one will certainly remind the viewer to not take for granted what their love life offers them.

The original version of 'Intermezzo', starring Ingrid Bergman - who later recreated the role in Hollywood opposite Leslie Howard - and Gosta Ekman, is an involving story of a mid-life crisis, an intermezzo, a passion driven by music.

Tired, bored, and a stranger to his family, Holger Brandt (Ekman) is searching for a new accompanist but when he finds his daughter's music teacher, Anita Hoffmann (Bergman) events begin to move in quite a different direction. Of course we don't see any romantic involvements beyond a bit of friendly kissing and heightened dialogue between Brandt and Hoffmann which pinpoints their relationship - and the film is all the better for it.

As good as the version with Bergman/Howard, this version is rarely seen but well worth catching. Ekman - who has more than a passing resemblance to the great German actor Conrad Veidt - is the perfect suffering artist, looking for excitement and a new definition of love; while Bergman makes the character of Hoffmann believable in her infatuation with Brandt without seeing ridiculous.

Before becoming one of the most popular stars in Hollywood, young Ingrid Bergman gained acting experience in Swedish movies. Appearing in eleven films in her native Sweden, Bergman was spotted by film producer David O. Selznick in November 1936 "Intermezzo." The independent studio owner was so impressed by Bergman's acting in her first motion picture as a lead, he immediately made her an offer for her to come to Hollywood. She accepted. Her relocation to America to play in English-speaking roles made Bergman the fourth most legendary movie actress in cinematic history, according to the American Film Institute ranking.

Bergman's biographer Charlotte Chandler called her "arguably the most international star in the history of entertainment." Life magazine described her as having "greater versatility than any actress on the American screen. Her roles have demanded an adaptability and sensitiveness of characterization to which few actresses could rise."

Selznick was swayed with her acting in "Intermezzo" by her "natural sweetness." It was quite a complement for the young Swedish actress since her Anita Hoffman, the piano teacher for the daughter of a master violinist, was basically a home wrecker who falls for family man musician Holger Brandt (Gosta Ekman). Bergman was 22 when she played Anita, yet her on-screen talent was years ahead of other actresses her age. Named after Princess Ingrid of Sweden, Bergman had an attentive father who dreamed of his only surviving daughter to be an opera star (his wife died when Ingrid was two). She embraced acting at an early age, whom her father documented freely with his camera. "I was perhaps the most photographed child in Scandinavia," Bergman recalls. She was an orphan at 14 when her father died, but her acting ambitions never wavered. "I knew from the beginning I wanted to be an actress," Ingrid claimed.

Bergman earned a scholarship at the Royal Dramatic Theatre School, the same school Greta Garbo attended. With just one year under her belt in a three-year program, she was hired by a Swedish film studio in 1932 at 17, launching her long acting career. Six credited movies later, Bergman received her first major role as the reluctant mistress to the habitually touring violinist who was happily married to his wife. "Intermezzo" was her third movie under director Gustaf Molander, who was a former scriptwriter for Victor Sjostrom and Mauritz Stiller, Sweden's top silent movie directors. The actress credits Molander for his instructive insights, but the director who co-wrote "Intermezzo," noted "I created Intermezzo for her, but I was not responsible for its success. Ingrid herself made it successful."

Bergman excelled in the Swedish (and one German) films she appeared before accepting Selznick's invitation to America. The only hesitation by the producer was, according to his son Danny, "She didn't speak English, she was too tall, her name sounded too German, and her eyebrows were too thick." To make her feel comfortable, Selznick invited Bergman to stay with him and his wife. Also, he wanted her to be comfortable before the American camera and film crew by placing her in the same role as Anita she played in her Swedish film in the 1939 remake of "Intermezzo" opposite Leslie Howard .

This is coming from someone who is neither an Ingrid Bergman fan nor a fan of subtitled movies. I was surfing my cable channels, when this movie just popped up from nowhere. As you can tell my overwhelming joy in watching subtitled movies is pretty negative. The movie description said it was about a TORRID love triangle. Of course this peaked my curiosity. Peaking my curiosity and watching the movie until the end are totally two different things but to my surprise I watched the movie until the credits rolled and was not disappointed. I am still in shock that I actually enjoyed this movie. As soon as I come out of shock, which has to be soon if I plan to stay employed, I will be searching for more movies with subtitles. ENJOY!