Smiles of a Summer Night

Shown: 24 February 2001
To be introduced by Phill Walkley
Part of European Masterworks Day

Sweden 1955 (subtitles)
95 minutes
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Leading players - Ulla Jacobsen, Eva Dahlbeck and Harriet Andersson

Synopsis

Smiles of a Summer Night is one of Bergman's few comedies. A game of love at a country house party set over a midsummer weekend in 1900, this film was his first major success and was the inspiration for Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music and Woody Allen's A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy.

Bergman is better known for dramatic subjects, but here he produces an enchanting comedy of manners and shows a face few are accustomed to seeing. As so often in his films, Bergman gives his actresses strong roles portraying dominant figures, but his whole cast rewards him with terrific performances.