Intermezzo

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!

The original version of this Swedish melodrama by Gustaf Molander is short (the American remake is even shorter) and to the point. A famous and not very young violinist (Gösta Ekman) meets a pretty and fresh-as-a-daisy pianist (Ingrid Bergman), he believes he met his match and she falls for him or something he has. Although the final solution tries to make us believe that the violinist is a fervent family man who will return to the loving arms of his abandoned but addict-to-marriage wife (Inga Tidblad), we know better: even if Hollywood insists in pairing ageing male stars with girls who could be their great-granddaughters, the truth is that age does count. On the pianist's side, it is obvious that his fame and talent impressed her, but when she wins a "stipend" to study, she takes the right decision. Interestingly, Hans Ekman who plays Åke, the son (to his real-life father) turned into filmmaking and was Ingmar Bergman's rival for a while.

"Intermezzo"(1939) was Ingrid Bergman's first American film, but it wasn't the first film she made. She had made 6 Swedish films before this original version of "Intermezzo"(1936). This made her a star in her native country. The American remake would make her a star around the world.

It's a unique story of a brilliant violinist, with a sweet loving family, who falls for his accompanist, and the pain it brings to all involved. I haven't seen the American version, but the original is great. The acting is just so natural, just like they were actually living these lives. It's strange to hear Ingrid speaking Swedish, but she laughs and looks like she always did. The best things about this movie is the beautiful soundtrack, the intelligent script, terrific acting, and that cute little girl who played the daughter(I forgot kids were like that). I lucked out finding this video at a lumber store(?), but what a find. If you get the chance to see the original, see it. It's that good!!

I was lucky enough to catch this at Melbourne's wonderful Astor Cinema and was astonished to re-read the external review that panned it. This was the first pre ww2 Swedish movie I'd seen and I'd have to say that I'm yet to see any Hollywood films of its vintage that are any better. I thought that the principal cast, Gosta Ekman, Inga Tidblad (who yes does look strikingly like Kristen Scott Thomas), Ingrid Bergman, Eric "Bullen" Berglund, and Britt Hegman were terrific and the telling and pacing of the story was faultless. The poor matching of sets and trite dialogue that often marred films that were coming out of the UK and USA at the time was mercifully missing and the film was a delight. Yes its great to see Ingrid Bergman looking radiant (and at times more than a little like Gretta Garbo) but all the other components that make up this film aren't too shabby either. If you get the opportunity to see this film, I don't think you'll regret seizing it.

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.