Noites de Circo

A flea-bitten traveling circus makes its way to a small coastal town. The ringmaster (Ake Gronberg) has grown tired of the nomadic and impoverished life of the circus, and as this was his hometown, he hopes to reconnect with the wife and children that he abandoned years earlier. Meanwhile, the ringmaster's young lover Anne (Harriet Andersson) feels rejected and considers joining a theater troupe, hoping to find comfort in the arms of handsome actor Frans (Hasse Ekman).

This early triumph from Bergman marked his first teaming with cinematographer Sven Nykvist. Their collaborations would go on to become one of the greatest between director and cinematographer in film history. This film already exhibits the Bergman/Nykvist look, with striking close-ups, atmospheric black and white compositions, and almost unearthly landscapes. The performances are good, particularly from Andersson. There's an anarchic, almost grotesque quality about the way both the circus folk and the theater troupe are presented that reminded me a bit of Fellini. Recommended.

It's undoubtedly true, as has been pointed out in a newsgroup review, that the characters in this film are not particularly likable. I have never been able to understand why that should necessarily work against a film's worth or effectiveness, though. Profound darkness seems to me an integral part of Bergman's work, at least the earlier films like this one. If you're looking for action, adventure, or romance, you're certainly barking up the wrong tree here, and the idea of identifying with the characters in this film scares the hell out of me. Maybe it's just not suited to some viewer's personalities.

You're not likely to come across `Sawdust and Tinsel' much these days, unless it's at an art-house, museum or festival screening, or on video. Here in the U.S., Public Television used to show Bergman films in the distant past. That time is long gone, but I can well remember seeing it on TV as a kid, and its imagery lingered in my mind like a vivid nightmare. The black and white cinematography, with wonderful use of darkness and silhouettes, makes it a very beautiful-looking film, but it is unrelentingly dark and gloomy.

Not for everybody, but it is what it is, and Bergman is Bergman. Its dream-like imagery and brutal, primal view of human nature can leave a deep impression, especially on impressionable viewers. This is undoubtedly why having seen it when growing up, I've never forgotten it. Though it doesn't seem to be particularly well-regarded these days, I regard it as great and powerful cinema in the Bergman/Nykvist tradition. At the very least, its cinematography should be well-appreciated by anyone who admires the look of films like `The Virgin Spring, ` or `The Silence.'

While traveling in caravan through the country of Sweden, one member of the decadent Alberti Circus tells the owner and ringmaster Albert Johansson (Åke Grönberg) a sad story about the clown Frost (Anders Ek): seven years ago, his wife Alma (Gudrun Brost) was surprised by him bathing naked in a lake with a regiment. When the circus arrives in the town where Albert's wife Agda (Annika Tretow) and sons live, he decides to pay a visit with his young mistress Anne (Harriet Andersson) to a famous local troupe to borrow some capes, hats and vests for their tonight show. They are humiliated by the director Mr. Sjuberg (Gunnar Björnstrand), but he lends the pieces, and the lead actor Frans (Hasse Ekman) gives an unsuccessful pass on Anne. When Albert decides to visit Agda, the jealous Anne meets Frans, who seduces her with an apparently valuable necklace, and they have a love affair. Anne finds that the necklace is actually worthless and returns to the circus. Meanwhile, Agda refuses to accept Albert back and he sees Anne leaving the theater and going to the jewelry. During the exhibition, Albert and Anne are submitted to humiliations by Frans.

"Gycklarnas Afton" is a dark and unpleasant story of the cruelty of mankind, where losers, desperate people without any perspective in life, are humiliated by the cruel human beings, reaching the lowest human condition. The clown Frost and his decadent wife Alma; the aging and tired owner of the circus trying reconciliation with his former wife to have a stable life; the mistress Anne trying to find another man to support her; all of them stuck together in a decadent circus due to the lack of perspective in life and courage of committing suicide. The cinematography in black and white is amazingly beautiful, and the introduction sequence, with the caravan moving in the dawn, is very similar to Brazilian classic "O Cangaceiro" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045595/), of the same year. Harriet Andersson is extremely sexy and gorgeous in the role of Anne. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Noites de Circo" ("Nights of Circus")

Poor old Frost performs as a circus clown, carrying a heavily burdened scowl and quite a frown, since his wife went to sea, for the army all to see, ridiculed without makeup or a gown.

Poor Albert is the big circus ringmaster, the performances are all a disaster, the takings are low, he know wants to go, but his wife won't have him back to harass her.

Anne travels as Albert's companion, but theatre Frans has set his sights on, getting her to perform, with a pendant to charm, but the lustre is shallow and a con.

Albert hears of Anne's closed candid meeting, in the circus ring Frans' smugly seating, there follows a brawl, the ringmaster does fall, the cuckold takes another shameful beating.

The humiliation of three tortured souls of the circus, as their dignity is stripped like flesh from a freshly slaughtered carcass.

This is a fantastic early film made by the master of the psychological, Ingmar Bergman. This film is much easier to understand than say, Persona, Cries and Whispers, or the Seventh Seal, and therefore, I suggest this as a first-time introduction for anyone interested in learning more about his films and/or his filming technique.

This movie is quite simply, a dream. The introduction sequence is a brilliant example of Bergman's work...we see a long shot of 5 horse carriages moving across the plains at dawn, which dissolves into a reflection of a single horse & carriage in the water below a bridge, which dissolves into a series of shots...windmills, foggy paths, the carriage driver and the finally, a fade into the carriage where our protagonist, Albert Johansson, sleeps with his girlfriend Anna. Bergman is the king of the dissolve...a style he no doubt picked up from 1920's German expressionism. Bergman's mise en scene is a blend of sequences which depict a very dreamlike orientation of our immediate surrounding.The result: We are passive observers, watching the all-too-real reality of our modern world subside into something very mysterious and surreal. Bergman's style removes time from the equation of film. Time, as we know it, takes a back-seat to objects, people, and places. Real life becomes more dreamlike than any dream, and the darkest and most mysterious corner of the universe becomes the human mind.

This is a fantastic movie.