Port of Call

The book which Gösta reads on his bed is 'Resor utan mål' ('Journeys Without Destination') by Swedish author and future Nobel laureate in Literature (1974) Harry Martinson. Martinson was, indeed, a sailor before becoming an author, and the book, published in 1932 as Martinson's first prose volume (his greatest fame would come for his poetry), was a document of his own experiences as one, written at twenty-eight after he had given up the sea due to a combination of lack of employment and a bout of tuberculosis. A sailor like Gösta would indeed have found much interest in the book, as it dealt realistically with the life of a sailor from his country living a life very similar to his own. The book itself has sadly never been published in English, but Martinson's second novel, 'Kap Farväl!', somewhat similar to 'Resor utan mål', was translated as 'Cape Farewell'. Director Ingmar Bergman was indeed an admirer of his countryman Martinson and, in 1964, he staged the premiere of Martinson's play 'Tre knivar från Wei' ('Three Knives From Wei'), although, unfortunately, he considered the production an unmitigated disaster.

When the camera pans from Gösta to Skåningen in the whistling scene, an object which is probably a microphone can be seen briefly in the upper right frame.

Features Stackars lilla Sven (1947)