Viktor Andersson Movies

An innocent youth finds love and, eventually, heartbreak in this film, which ranks among Ingmar Bergman's simplest and most unaffected. Harry (Lars Ekborg), the unworldly, unhappy hero, suffers at his job and in his personal life. Then he falls in love with the superficial Monika (Harriet Andersson), who shows little capacity for sensitivity but radiates carnality. Defying the repressive, degrading ways of adult society, the couple flees from the city, their responsibilities, and their problems by stealing a boat and retreating to an island, where they live free of inhibitions or social restrictions. But when the glorious summer comes to an end, the young couple is compelled to return to the city, where their relationship soon disintegrates. Monika gives birth to their child but shows little parental inclination, preferring to sleep late and lounge about. Harry, meanwhile, tries to provide support. Bored, Monika eventually finds another lover, whereupon Harry moves his child from their filthy apartment and determines to make a better life. With its agreeable lead actress and its unadorned style, Sommaren med Monika constitutes one of Bergman's most immediate and accessible films. Harriet Andersson, who became a Bergman regular, shows an unabashed sexuality that would serve her well in subsequent films, and she reveals a canny ability to maintain audience interest, if not sympathy, for a character that is ultimately unappealing, even repellant. Bergman allows Andersson's performance to dominate the film. He generally abstains from emphatic lighting or provocative angles, preferring to accommodate his actress with rich close-ups and sunlit portraits. Andersson's compelling performance, together with the film's idyllic island setting and Bergman's unfailing direction, renders Sommaren med Monika an impressive, noteworthy work. ~ Les Stone, Rovi

Swedish actor Lars Hanson, best known to American audiences for his sensitive performances in such silent classics as The Scarlet Letter and Flesh and the Devil, heads the cast of Intill Helvetets Portar. The title translates as Till the Doors of Hell, a not-so-oblique reference to the precariousness of the postwar Atomic Age. Hanson plays Victor Barring, who at the beginning of the film wins a Nobel Prize for his efforts in the field of atomic research. Barring's assistants, appalled by the possibility of an A-bomb apocalypse, band together to prevent him from continuing his work. Posing several controversial questions, Intill Helvetets Portar provides no easy answers, assuming that the audience is intelligent enough to formulate its own opinions. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After a pair of unremarkable directorial efforts, Stig Jarrel returned to what he did best -- acting. In Far Jag Lov, Magistern? (Shall We Dance, Mr. Teacher?) Jarrel is cast as a warm-hearted dancing instructor -- a far cry from his sadistic schoolmaster in Torment (1944). Heading to Stockholm to study modern-dance techniques, our hero experiences several amusing misadventures, a few of them romantic in nature. Easy to take, Far Jag Lov, Magistern was a welcome escapist antidote to the postwar defeatism of many Scandinavian films. Accordingly, the picture made a fortune upon its first release. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Ingmar Bergman made his directorial debut with this 1946 drama which found a number of his key themes already in place. Ingeborg (Dagny Lind) is a middle-aged woman living in a small Swedish community where she supports herself giving piano lessons and running a boarding house. Ingeborg has devoted much of her life to looking after Nelly (Inga Landgre), a teenage girl who was abandoned by her mother Jenny (Marianne Lofgren) when she was a baby. Ingeborg deeply loves Nelly and think of her as her daughter, and she's distraught when Jenny appears and announces she intends to reclaim Nelly and take her to Stockholm, where she now runs a successful beauty salon. Despite Ingeborg's pleas that her poor health limits the time she can spend with Nelly, Jenny is adamant, and the teenager decides to go, though her decision is largely motivated by her mixed feelings about Ulf (Allan Bohlin), an older veterinarian who wants to marry her, and her sudden infatuation with Jack (Stig Olin), a mysterious charmer who is a friend and distant relative of Jenny. Kris (aka Crisis) was adapted from a popular stage play by Leck Fisher; the production was hampered by Bergman's inexperience, and his mentor Victor Sjostrom was brought in to supervise the last few weeks of shooting. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Filmed in Sweden in 1938 as En Enda Natt, Only One Night was released in the US in 1942 to capitalize on the popularity of its star, Ingrid Bergman. Actually, Bergman's role is secondary: the film's true star is Edvin Adolphson, playing the illegitimate son of wealthy Olof Sandborg. Taking on the airs of an aristocrat, Adolphson dumps his middle-class girlfriend Aino Taube and commences to enjoy the good life. Sandborg tries to pair up Adolphson with socialite Bergman, but his crude behavior squelches any possibility of lasting romance. Realizing that he's in over his head, Adolphson returns to his former life and former love. By the time Only One Night made it to American theatres, many of its "racier" sexual aspects had been shorn in the editing room. Fortunately, all of Ingrid Bergman's close-ups remained intact. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This Swedish comedy is Ingrid Bergman's first film. The film is loosely structured and centers around a gang of drinking buddies on a pub crawl through 1934 Stockholm. As they weave from bar to bar, they manage to keep ahead of the police who want to stop the noisy party. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi