Birgitta Valberg Movies
- 1992
Written by pantheon Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, Sunday's Children was directed by Bergman's son Daniel. This intensely autobiographical film takes place when the elder Bergman was a child of eight. In a near-cathartic fashion, the story illustrates the strained relationship between young Ingmar and his minister father, and the understanding (not always a warm one) between them. Though Daniel Bergman pursues his own visual style, this is his father's film through and through, and as such should be given an honored place in Ingmar's body of work. Sunday's Children is, to date, the best of the recent "retrospectives" penned by the far-from-retired Ingmar Bergman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Berggren, Lena Endre, (more)
- 1977
Conventions of civility among family members are severely strained by the very real breakup of the bonds between them. During a few days at a vacation home, Katha (Birgitta Valberg), a woman in late middle age, tries to cope with an influx of discontented, disconnected relatives. Her divorced daughter brings all sorts of people to the house, including a woman-friend accompanied by her psychotic son; the grandfather of the house is convinced he is dying and is satisfied by nothing; and some friends drop off their angry teenage son to stay with her, while they go on a long trip abroad. Her friend Emma (Sif Ruud) doesn't help much with keeping a lid on things, as she is a social worker who is fascinated by the awfulness of these situations. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Birgitta Valberg, Sif Ruud, (more)
- 1976
Politics and crime cross paths in this action drama in which the police are attempting to capture alive the murderer of a police official who grievously abused his power. The official was murdered in his hospital bed, and his murderer's identity is carefully uncovered by painstaking police work. However, before long the culprit announces himself in a bold way by shooting down every policeman he sees from his rooftop perch in Stockholm. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1970
- R
This routine melodrama finds an Italian woman torn between her old lover and her husband. Karin (Bibi Andersson) is the resident of Rome who literally bumps into Bruno (James Farentino) after her piano lesson. The married man is immediately taken by her beauty and the two begin a passionate love affair. After a confrontation with Bruno's wife (Annie Girardot), Karin returns to Sweden and falls for the American diplomat David (Robert Stack). The two are married and return to the United States before David is assigned to Rome. Karin and Bruno meet again and resume their tawdry affair. When Karin tells Bruno she is going back to her husband, Bruno dies in an auto accident. Karin returns to her husband and young child with vivid and long-lasting memories of her adulterous affairs. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bibi Andersson, Robert Stack, (more)
- 1970
- R
In this Swedish drama, a woman suffers from a terrible fatal illness. Her dark days become brighter after she falls in love and marries a journalist. Soon after the woman bears a child, her health begins to change rapidly. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Shame demonstrates the futility of escaping the consequences of war. In 1971, the Rosenbergs, Jan (Max von Sydow) and Eva (Liv Ullmann), have retreated to an island off the coast of their unnamed country, which is embroiled in a civil conflict. Trained and employed as classical violinists, they make a modest living raising and selling lingonberries, though they continue to play their instruments. When a plane carrying soldiers crashes on the island, Jan and Eva see their lives changed in an instant as soldiers from both sides of the conflict overrun the island and fighting breaks out. The couple is arrested and charged with collaborating with the rebel forces. Colonel Jacobi (Gunnar Bjornstrand), an old friend of the couple, is in charge of the army defending the island, and he agrees to have the couple released if Eva will have sex with him. Shortly after Jan learns of Eva's betrayal, rebel forces gain the upper hand and order Jan to execute Jacobi, which he readily agrees to do. Not sure which side is safe to throw in with, the couple agree to leave on an early morning boat for another island, which is presumably sheltered from the conflict. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liv Ullmann, Max von Sydow, (more)
- 1962
In this drama, a young scientist goes to a Stockholm convention and ends up having an affair with a married man much older than she. The trouble begins when he refuses to throw over his wife for her. The distraught woman returns home and confesses the affair to her lover and then heads for Rome to take a new job. Just as she boards the train, she sees her older lover. He has decided to leave his wife for her and the two spend the night making love. In the cold morning light, the woman realizes she doesn't want him and so leaves without him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bibi Andersson, Per Myrberg, (more)
Inspired by a medieval Swedish ballad, Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring (Jungfrukallan) begins with a scene of unspeakable brutality and ends with an image of uncommon beauty. 15-year-old Birgitta Peterson, on her way to church to light candles for the Virgin Mary, is raped and murdered by two older men. The men look for shelter at the home of Birgitta's father (Max Von Sydow), who murders the bestial killers in cold blood. When the deed is done, Von Sydow, a deeply religious man, begins to question the efficacy of a God that would allow his daughter's death, then permit so bloody a retribution. Then, a fresh, virgin spring bubbles from the ground where his daughter had been lying a few moments before. Taking this natural phenonenon as a sign from above, Von Sydow vows to erect a church on the spot where Birgitta met her doom. The winner of the "best foreign picture" Academy Award, The Virgin Spring currently exists in several versions of varying lengths; the longest, and most graphic, is the original Swedish cut. Believe it or not, this hauntingly beautiful film served as the basis of The Last House on the Left (1972). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Max von Sydow, Birgitta Valberg, (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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eva Dahlbeck, Ulla Jacobsson, (more)
- 1948
In this early feature from Swedish auteur Ingmar Bergman, Gosta (Bengt Eklund) is a sailor with the merchant marine who has decided to take some time off from sailing after eight years at sea. Working the docks until he can find a better job, one Saturday night Gosta visits a dance hall and meets Berit (Nine-Christine Jonsson), a beautiful but troubled young woman. Berit has a history as a juvenile delinquent and has served time in a home for girls, where she met her close friend Gertrud (Mimi Nelson). Berit soon becomes infatuated with Gosta, and his strong, well-grounded nature seems to be the stabilizing influence she needs. However, in time Gosta learns about Berit's checkered past and meets her mother (Berta Hall), who makes no secret of her contempt for her daughter. Gosta begins having second thoughts about his relationship with Berit after she unwittingly involves him in the death of Gertrud, who succumbs after receiving an illegal abortion. Hamnstad (aka Port of Call and Harbor City) marks the first time Bergman worked with cinematographer Gunnar Fischer, who would photograph many of his most memorable films of the 1950's. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ivine-Christine Jonsson, Bengt Eklund, (more)
- 1945
Also known as Life in the Country, this easygoing Swedish comedy is based on a story by Fritz Reuter. That peerless Scandinavian actor Edvard Persson heads the cast as Brassig, a retired land overseer who plays Cupid for a pair of star-crossed lovers. He also convinces a stubborn, taciturn nobleman to modernize his farming methods, thereby effecting a reconciliation between the nobleman and his visionary son. The Swedish sense of humor is not always subtle, and there are admittedly a few moments that won't play well with American audiences. Still, any opportunity to see Edvard Persson in action should not be passed up. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edvard Persson, George Fant, (more)
