Stimulantia

"The discovery" (In Chaplin's block) director Hans Abramson sublimates his need for sex and drugs in an exploration of childhood. The drama is set in London at # 3 Pownall Terrace , where Charles Chaplin spent his childhood. A slum neighborhood where the Music Hall tradition lives on, carried out by some singing and dancing girls. In Jörn Donners "He She" a loving couple in a hotel room makes thorough hygienic preparations for having sex. This foreplay take so long that there is no time for lovemaking. A sprawling collection of short films that never manage to fit in under the title of "Stimulantia". Somewhere along the way this proud and unusual project drove in the ditch. However a must for Swedish film buffs.

Anything that impedes or hinders, like the division into narratives in cinema, doesn't work because it hinders the narrative. In fact, the underlying theme of stimulation becomes thin and often disappears. It doesn't work as a whole, even if some episodes are more successful than others, making the narrative extremely uneven, given the absolutely personal interpretation given by each individual director.

Ten episodes to show what stimulation means for each of the ten directors. For Mr. Svensk (Lars Ekborg), for example, it's the woman of his dreams locked in the closet (Glenna Forster-Jones); for Mathilde Hartman (Ingrid Bergman), it's high society; while for a woman (Harriet Andersson) and her lover (Sven-Bertil Taube), the mere thought of a night of passion is far more stimulating than the night itself.

Some episodes are extremely documentary-like, while others are more narrative, but still too disconnected; among the various screenplays, the one inspired by Guy the Maupassant (Smycket, based on La parure) and the very well-developed one by Vilgot Sjoman (The Black Woman in the Closet) stand out; in a disjointed film, with an extremely uneven narrative, Ingrid Bergman's natural acting stands out.

Best moments: who hasn't dreamed of having a pleasant diversion locked inside the closet? A must-see for Ingrid Bergman fans, but also for those who aren't easily bored, just to test themselves.

I say that sketch films, because they are so wildly variable in quality, are rarely worth watching, and this one is no exception. There are perhaps two sketches that hold interest:Gustav Molander's version of Maupassant's story The Necklace, in which Bergman and Bjornstrand play very well in a restrained classical style, and Jorn Donner's little comedy of two lovers who can't quite get down to doing the act they intend. I didn't realize how well Harriet Andersson can do comedy; she really gets in the groove here.

For the rest, it's easy to see why these directors made no name for themselves outside Sweden. I was particularly annoyed by Sjoman's silly, childish sketch with the man trying to hide a young black woman from his wife in his apartment.

Finally, I acknowledge Ingmar Bergman's supremacy in the film industry, but his grainy home movie is not in the least interesting. You find the impulse to fast-forward through this one is irresistible.