Gosta Prnzelius Movies
- 1992
Scripted (but not directed) by Ingmar Bergman, Best Intentions is a multilayered backwards glance at the courtship of Bergman's own parents. Henrik Bergman (Samuel Froler) is a struggling theology student in the year 1909. His intended, Anna Aakerbloom (Pernilla August, who married director Bille August while the film was in progress) is from a well-to-do family. Despite the expected class differences and personality clashes, love-or at least mutual understanding-prevails. But after a harsh, spare few years as the wife of a clergyman, Anna yearns for the more bountiful pleasures of her family home. Bergman writes himself into the proceedings as a mewling infant. The current three-hour theatrical version of Best Intentions (original title: Den Goda Viljan) was simultaneously prepared as a six-hour TV miniseries, which ran in Europe, Scandanavia, and Japan. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Samuel Fröler, Pernilla August, (more)
Shame is grand master Ingmar Bergman's bitter and unsparing condemnation of war - all war, regardless of which side one chooses. The story begins with two ex-musicians, Eva and Jan Rosenberg (Liv Ullmann and Max von Sydow, respectively) peacefully inhabiting a weathered house where they grow fruits and vegetables. The residence is located on a desolate, arid island in some unspecified geographic location. Many items in The Rosenbergs' house, such as the radio, aren't functioning properly, and an explosive conflict transpires in the distance. (To avoid being ideologically pigeonholed, Bergman avoids identifying either side of the struggle or the reasons for the conflict itself). The Rosenbergs remain aloof, detached and geographically removed from the struggle, but little by little, over time, various elements of the war seep into the couples' lives and force their involvement. The tumult first sets in when jet planes roar over the house; then a parachutist gets killed and soldiers turn up at the Rosenberg residence. Finally, Eva and Jan get forcibly interrogated and incarcerated. Following the complete obliteration of the Rosenberg house, Eva has sex with one of the military leaders, Colonel Jacobi (Gunnar Bjornstrand) for unspecified reasons. Although Bergman never explicitly makes it clear if Jan witnesses this, he does deliberately conceal money that he could have easily used to buy Jacobi's freedom from the other side. As the heart-wrenching tale rolls forward, circumstances force The Rosenbergs into a face-to-face confrontation with their own identities and emotions. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi
- Starring:
- Liv Ullmann, Max von Sydow, (more)
- 1955
Not even Ingmar Bergman was prone to discuss his obscure 1955 production Dreams. While on vacation, photo agency owner Susanne (Eva Dahlbeck) hopes to rendezvous with her married lover. The man's wife puts the kibosh on this, whereupon Susanne enters into an affair with diplomat Sanderby Gunnar Bjornstrand. This liaison ends unhappily, leaving her sadder and wiser at vacation's end. So annoyingly confusing is Dreams that at times it resembles a Woody Allen parody of Bergman, rather than the genuine article. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Harriet Andersson, Eva Dahlbeck, (more)
Bergman's comic masterpiece opens with middle-aged lawyer Frederik Egerman (Gunnar Bjornstrand) again failing to consummate his marriage with the much younger Anne (Ulla Jacobsson). While visiting a former lover, actress Desiree Armfeldt (Eva Dahlbeck), he crosses swords with her current lover, Count Malcolm (Jarl Kulle), after both men learn that Frederik is the father of her illegitimate child. At Desiree's behest, her mother invites Egerman, the Count, and their wives along with Egerman's grown son, Henrik (Björn Bjelvenstam) to her manor house for the weekend. Before their departure, divinity student Henrik wards off the eager advances of the housemaid by reading from the Bible aloud, but it seems clear that he and Anne are quite taken with one another. After arriving at the Ryarp estate the guests are served a dinner spiked with a love potion which provokes swift reactions. The bewildered Frederik becomes aware of the increasingly intense bond between Henrik and Anne, and the Countess (Margit Carlquist) makes a public bet with her husband that she can seduce Frederik. Shocked by the dinner-table conversation, the strait-laced Henrik retires to his room to commit suicide. In the course of his bumbling attempt, he has the good fortune to learn why so many prefer sex to death. ~ Michael Costello, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eva Dahlbeck, Ulla Jacobsson, (more)
- 1954
En Lektion i Kärlek constitutes one of Ingmar Bergman's more overtly entertaining films. In this highly engaging comedy, Bergman reunites Gunnar Bjornstrand and Eva Dahlbeck, who had already teamed to great effect in the final, comic episode of Secrets of Women (1952), and he once again casts them as an amusingly antagonistic husband and wife. Bjornstrand's character, David Erneman, is a successful gynecologist who has jeopardized his sixteen-year marriage by entering into an affair with one of his patients. In retaliation, his wife, Marianne, departs for Copenhagen to revive relations with a former fiancé. David initially seems only slightly disturbed by his wife's action, but when his affair ends and he enjoys an afternoon with his inscrutable daughter (Harriet Andersson, in an especially plucky turn), he determines to embark for Copenhagen and win back his wife. But his initial efforts at a reunion hardly bring him success, and only after a barroom altercation with his brutish rival does David seem to rekindle his wife's affection for him. En Lektion i Kärlek is a pivotal film in the Bergman canon, reviving his fortunes after the critics' rejection of Gycklarnas Afton (Sawdust and Tinsel) (1953) and spurring him toward his comic masterpiece, Sommarnattens Leende (Smiles of a Summer Night) (1955). Bergman came to regard En Lektion i Kärlek as a divertissement, but the film is of a greater magnitude than usual comedies of domestic life, and Bergman concludes it with the endearing image of Cupid strolling past the hotel room of the reunited couple. ~ Les Stone, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gunnar Björnstrand, Eva Dahlbeck, (more)
- 1951
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
- Starring:
- Harriet Andersson, Lars Ekborg, (more)
