User reviews

Frederik is married to young Anne, though she struggles to become a big fan, as he continues to wait, to engage or consummate, two annus horriblis for the patient old man.

Now Frederik re-encounters Desiree, an old flame he recalls was quite fiery, has a lover the Count, who she likes to surmount, though she'd like to join Frederik and replay.

The Count has a wife who wants him back, recover him to the conjugal sack, there's a bit of a do, where there'll be much ado, where she'll try to get back on track.

Henrik is Frederik's son, he's been having quite a lot of cheer and fun, with Petra the maid, but he'd like to upgrade, with Anne and run off into the sun.

Summer spirits are raised and reduced in metaphorical musical chairs mayhem between a variety of courting couples across the classes of the day, with plenty to make you smile and copious amounts of style.

This was director Ingmar Bergman's break-through film, the winner of the 1956 Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, the first of his many internationally acclaimed films. The story is a time honored one, referencing the same tradition of romantic complications found in Shakespeare's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM and Rostand's LA RONDE: every one is either in love with or married to the wrong person.

A famous actress with two very different lovers invites both, their wives, and the son of one lover to her mother's country estate in the hope of sorting out the romantic entanglements to her satisfaction--and the result is considerable charm and unexpectedly dry wit. All the performances are excellent, with Eva Dahlbeck's Desiree a standout, but the real star of this ensemble piece is the unexpectedly witty script. Never quite veering over into broad farce but never sinking into romantic sentimentality, it is a very precisely written tale, and both cast and director make the most of it.

In the face of Bergman's later work, SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT may seem rather slight, and indeed both psychology and cinematography is considerably less complex than one expects. Even so, it is very much a Bergman film: the visual style is distinct, and the themes of appearances vs. reality, the inability to correctly interpret another's behavior, and the failure to understand one's self are very much in evidence--only here to comic effect. It is in every way a charming film that Bergman fans will enjoy.

Incidentally, SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT was successfully translated to the stage as the musical A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, the score of which includes the famous "Send In The Clowns." Fans of the original film will be interested to compare the two works.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Begrman's comedy's tend to leave me cold, but I was persuaded that this one would be interesting. Bergman to some extent made his name on the back of this film. Woody Allen famously based A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy on this movie, thus coming out as a Bergman fan.

Frankly, I think Allen has more talent for comedy than Bergman, but Smiles of a Summer Night has more depth and more interesting development of ideas than the Allen follow-up.

This movie is a typical comedy of manners and the plot is of little consequence - it has a few fun moments but the interest is in the acting and the ideas. In terms of performances, Gunnar Bjornstrand and Harriet Andersson are both superb - the rest are Bergman's usual suspects, mostly of ensemble quality. Perhaps it is Bergman's weakness with comedy, but Eva Dahlbeck and Jarl Kulle (who appear frequently in his comedies) usually seem very weak to me. Bibi Andersson is in this movie, but I blinked at the appropriate moment so I missed her. Sigh.

The core ideas of the film (that love visits few of us, even fewer of us make a good fist of it, most of us live lies and/or make fools of ourselves in matters of love) are examined well and in an enjoyable way. The style of this comedy reminds me of Jean Anouilh's lighter plays, which I suppose reflects the European style of the 1950's.

Most Bergman comedies have aged disgracefully, but this one has aged gracefully and certainly has something. Worth watching.

"Smiles of a Summer Night" is one of the most elegant and charming carnal comedies ever filmed. It is clever, witty, and incredibly sexy. Did I mention that it was written and directed by The Ingmar Bergman whose name would not usually be associated with the comedies?

"Smiles of a Summer Night" was a great success with both the critics and the audiences and was submitted for the Cannes film festival…without its creator's knowledge. The film was nominated for the Golden Palm and won the Award for Best Poetic Humor. Bergman describes how he found out about his movie's international recognition, "I was sitting on the toilet reading a morning newspaper. One of the articles was entitled, The Great Victory for a Swedish Cinema at Cannes. I thought, what a wonderful news, what is the movie? And then I read the title, "Smiles of a Summer Night" by Ingmar Bergman." He recalls how poor he was then and he borrowed the money for a ticket to Cannes from Bibi Anderson whom he dated at the time.

I did not laugh a lot but I don't think I was supposed to - "Smiles... is a different kind of comedy, sensual and subtle, with the characters often weak but not ridiculous. The beauty of it is in the dialogs, ironic looks, the charming struggle of wits, and in the realization that not everyone will be blessed with the true and passionate love but the life goes on, anyway. The actresses (Ulla Jacobsson, Eva Dahlbeck, Harriet Andersson, and Margit Carlqvist) were incredibly sexy, especially Eva Dahlbeck smoking a cigar and Harriett Andersson as a chambermaid talking to her mistress about the virginity – delightful!

There are no words to describe the beauty, splendor, charm, humor, and sensuality of this film. The best I can do - to paraphrase Woody Allen's line -"that was the most fun I've ever had without sex."

Charming, light-hearted, delicate, and romantic are not the terms most people think to use when describing Bergman films, and yet "Smiles of a Summer Night" is all of these. This is one of the most sophisticated romantic movies ever filmed, and a pure delight. It is a clever and witty romance based on the classic elements of French farce. Simply wonderful.

No matter how many films I see, whether they be foreign language or American or silent, early sound, or currently in theaters, I still find myself getting surprised by the content found in older films. "Smiles of a Summer Night" is a pretty edgy film, touching with great candor subject matters somewhat taboo today. And the film does this while being a complete joy to watch. This is certainly one of the great sex comedies and certain to be a good introduction to Bergman for those concerned about some of his tougher films. Besides, any Bergman fan should be proud of this film, because word has it that he had reached a crossroads, during a heavy bout with depression, before writing this film. He was either to commit suicide or write a comedy. The rest of his catalog and his canonized presence in film history shows what that decision brought us.

There is not a world in which I would have guessed that Ingmar Bergman was the right guy to direct a comedy, but Smiles of a Summer Night implies he has a level of flexibility as an artist that I never anticipated. This is a fun film with a playful tone which explores the complicated nature of love and relationships. I didn't laugh out loud, but the many miscommunications and various elements of deception that we see play out in the film were plenty to keep a smile on my face. There are elements in this story that don't seem like the type of thing that would typically appeal to me, including the May-December romance at the heart of it all, but they use that as a plot point so it kind of works.

I liked all the acting performances in Smiles of a Summer Night, and two of them I thought were truly great. Gunnar Björnstrand was excellent at riding that line between pompous and likable. And Eva Dahlbeck was simply marvelous as the smartest person in the room who is orchestrating everyone in order to get what she wants. Admittedly, I didn't love the whole film. There were a few subplots that didn't click for me, and I don't know if all the coupling up that we see at the end makes a ton of sense, but for this kind of comedy I was willing to accept it. Even when I wasn't a fan of things that happened in the film, I still maintained interest and was able to chuckle along with the story. I think it's fair to say this is my favorite Bergman film, and the one I'd be most likely to watch again.

Men, as a gender, do not come off well in Bergman's charming sex comedy Smiles of a Summer Night, made only one year before his breakthrough hit, The Seventh Seal. At the center of the film is Frederik Egerman (Gunnar Bjonstrand) pompous and self-assured as a lawyer but insecure and frightened by competition as a lover. His son, Henrik (Bjorn Bjelvenstam), torn between the church and the bedroom, is filled with self-hatred for even thinking about going to bed with Petra the maid (Harriet Andersson). Another over-the-top male character is Count Malcolm (Jarl Kulle) a poseur whose only response to his wife's infidelity is to challenge the paramour to a duel or a game of Russian Roulette.

In Bergman's world, men are childish, selfish, and arrogant. The women on the other hand are stronger, more self-reflective, capable of pandering to the male ego and to direct their affections elsewhere when the need arises. They suffer greatly, however. Charlotte Malcolm(Margit Carlqvist), the Count's wife admits that she hates men and finds them repulsive with their "hairy" bodies but nonetheless is hopelessly in love with her philandering husband. She says that in any event "a woman's view is seldom based on aesthetics. And one can always turn out the light." Set at the turn of the century, Frederik is married to the very beautiful 19-year old Anne (Ulla Jacobson) but their marriage has never been consummated even after the passage of two years. Though it remains unclear as to why this is the case, nonetheless, Frederik is not at a loss for romance, taking up with a famous actress the equally lovely Desiree Armfeldt (Eva Dahlbeck), a relationship that began soon after Frederik's first wife died but never revealed to Anne. He confides in her in a way that he cannot with his young wife and she is a comfort to him though their relationship is full of bitter verbal thrusts and parries. Desiree on the other hand has a string of lovers and it is not hard to understand why, given her fame, beauty, and rapier wit. One of them is the aforementioned Count Malcolm, a ludicrous character with his military getup and macho posturing.

The Count is also not averse to playing around and it turns out that he is also married to the stately and elegant Charlotte. He says that he can accept someone making overtures to his wife but if anyone goes after his mistress, he becomes a "tiger". Later he says the exact opposite when his wife and Frederik have a go round. Oh yes, Henrik secretly desires Anne, and Petra, well she's open to any offers. The situation could have deteriorated into farce but in Bergman's assured hand, everything is resolved in a civilized and even graceful way at a gathering of all eight combatants at Anne's mother's country retreat. Here they all drink a mystery wine and sort out their relationships in a remarkably satisfying manner.

Smiles of a Summer Night came as quite a surprise to me, being used to the philosophical Bergman of Wild Strawberries and The Seventh Seal (yet always with an added bit of humor). I found it thoroughly enjoyable, an opinion apparently shared with Woody Allen whose film A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy mirrored it and Stephen Sondheim who based his musical "A Little Night Music" on the film. I can't remember when there was such a collection of beautiful women in one film. Not only do they look wonderful but act impeccably and say wise and witty things. Bravo Bergman!

In the beginning of the Twentieth Century, the successful fifty years old lawyer Fredrik Egerman (Gunnar Björnstrand) has been married for three years with his naive nineteen years old wife Anne (Ulla Jacobsson), who is still virgin. His adult son from his former marriage, Henrik (Björn Bjelvenstam), lives in celibate preparing to be a priest. Their servant is the young and futile Petra (Harriet Andersson), who easily falls in love for every man. When Frederik goes to the theater with Anne, he sees the actress and his former mistress Desiree Armfeldt (Eva Dahlbeck) and he meets her alone in her dressing room after the performance. They go to her house, Frederik falls in one puddle and she gives the robe and the pajamas of her present lover, the military Count Carl Magnus Malcolm (Jarl Kulle), who is married with Anne's friend Countess Charlotte Malcolm (Margit Carlquist). However, Malcolm unexpectedly arrives and after the unpleasant encounter of the trio, Desiree ends their relationship. On the next morning, Desiree plots a weekend in her mother's summer real state with Frederik, Anne, Henrik, Malcolm and Charlotte, with the intention of seducing Frederik again. Along the night, with the three smiles of love, four couples are formed.

"Sommarnattens Leende" is a delightful, cynical and witty romantic comedy with wonderful dialogs and situations. Showing a magnificent art direction and cinematography, this sardonic story discloses three different types of love: the pure of the youngsters, represented by Anne and Henrik; the silly and quite naive, represented by the maid Petra and the groom Frid; and the cynical and malicious of the arrogant Malcolm and Charlotte and the Machiavellian Desiree and Frederik. In the DVD, Ingmar Bergman explains the importance of this movie in his career, with the recognition of the Sweden Industry giving independence for him after the worldwide success of "Sommarnattens Leende" inclusive in Cannes Festival. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Sorrisos de Uma Noite de Amor" ("Smiles of a Night of Love")

In the lat 19th-century, a slightly-aging and totally amoral actress invites to her country-house party two married men---a lawyer and a count---who have both been her lovers in the past. She also asks them to bring along their wives. She has plans on taking one of them away from his present wife, but also ensure that all her guests leave paired up. The math doesn't work out until an uninvited guest also shows up.

The film's plot—which involves switching partners on a summer night—has been adapted many times, most notably as the theatrical musical, A Little Night Music by Stephen Sondheim, Hugh Wheeler and Harold Prince, which opened on Broadway in 1973, and as Woody Allen's film "A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy" (1982).

What actually strikes me about the film is how generally upbeat it is. Bergman is best known for dark, moody existential films. And this is not one of those. Others have noted the same (how can you not?) and point out the strangest thing of all: this was during the darkest period in Bergman's life. So tragedy makes comedy?

A rare comedy from director Ingmar Bergman.

It takes place at the turn of the century. Fredrik Egerman is an old, cynical man who is married to beautiful, young (20) Anne. She can't have sex with him--she's too afraid. He knows and agrees to be patient. He also has a son from a previous marriage (Henrik) who is attracted to Anne. He's also attracted to the maid Petra. Then there's Desiree, a former mistress of Fredrik who is now sleeping with Malcolm (who's also married) and still attracted to Fredrik. Got all that? They all end up spending a summer weekend at a beautiful house in the woods. Things come to a head.

I've always wanted to see this--the title alone is beautiful. I did see it in a revival theatre in the 1980s--I hated it. The print was lousy and edited! During a fairly explicit (for 1955) talk about sex the subtitles disappeared! Just saw it again--unedited and in pretty good shape. While I don't think this is a masterpiece (I'm not a Bergman fan) I did like this.

It is funny--but pretty subtle. The relationships are all complicated but you do have them straight by the end. What's really good about this film is how Bergman treats (and shows) his female characters. Except for Anne (but she changes) they're strong, stand up for themselves and find men and their ways amusing--some of Desirre's looks were very funny. Also, in the form of Petra, they want sex and have no problem letting men know. For 1955 audiences this must have been shocking--Petra (almost) bares her breast and the sexual talk between women is very frank.

The acting is good by everybody...but the film is lacking in romance. I never believed any of these characters loved each other. Also it's slow-moving but it all ends happily. So I did like it--I give it an 8.

Later musicalized by Stephen Sondheim as "A Little Night Music" and disastrously remade (sort of) in Woody Allen's "A Midsummers Night Sex Comedy". Avoid that one at all costs.

The bouncing music and rather silly acting inform us that what we are watching is a comedy. If it were not for those two aspects, it would be easy to mistake the film for a plain drama. The reason for this is that there are no jokes or gags as such. Bergman injects into the script a few witty lines, but I can only guess that some humour is meant to blossom from the film having a satirical viewpoint on love. A comedy does not have to be funny for it to be effective, but if it is not funny it makes the comic aspects redundant. The characters are all developed around love and desire, rather than their own character traits, and there are a few others thing that one could complain about, but either way the film nevertheless says a few things about love. As usual Bergman does a great job setting up all the shots. It is interesting stuff on a visual level, with fitting lighting choices and some long pans. And as with just about every Bergman film, it is worth a look. However, it is difficult for me to recommend this awkward comedy as one of his better films, even though it is the film that really brought Bergman into the spotlight.

Ingmar Berman's adept filmmaking is offset by the maladroit screenplay that leaves one ruefully disgusted by the characters. If you have any morals whatsoever, do not watch this film because adultery abounds, not to mention incest.

Ingmar Bergman's dramatic forays capture what is very essential to great dramas- the key emotions should be expressed like poetry, flowing to a rhythm even if it's somber and tragic. He uses this emotional logic with his actors for this comedy of manners and the heart (pre-Seventh Seal), where he has his screenplay wonderfully unfold the character's amusing feelings on love, sex, and dealing with the opposite gender, all the while making sure his players know the words and the music. Here he has Gunnar Bjornstrand, a regular later on, as a lawyer who has a son and mistress, but also pines for an actress who may not fancy him as much as she used to. Harriet Andersson, also a regular in other Bergman films (a key one being Cries and Whispers where she played the dying woman), appears as a young, joyful woman, who even gives the lawyer's son, a priest, a bit of lust here and there.

In fact, Smiles of a Summer Night is Bergman's most joyous film, though that's not to say there can't be grand moments of joy in his dramas and reflections on god. But in this film, he shows how he is a filmmaker quite competent to skillfully accomplish a story of real people in real romantic whimsies, and at times (such as a quick scene on a bed with two giggling, laughing girls) reveals his views on humanity are truly not as bleak as some might think. Assuredly a must watch for fans of the director, yet one may want to watch a couple of his dramas if they're just starting out on his films (depending on the mood- personally, this would serve as a great pick-me-up as opposed to the stark Cries and Whispers).

I have seen just about all of Bergman's available films and Smiles of a Summer Night is among my favorites. The humor derives from the situations, cleverness of the dialogue and foibles of the characters, rather than from Woody Allen-type punch lines. (Bergman has funnier lines in Seventh Seal coming from the squire in his scenes with the church painter and blacksmith). Much of the humor comes from the changeability of the characters. At one point, Jarl Kulle's character says he doesn't mind if someone has an affair with his wife, but they better not fool around with his mistress, and later on says just the opposite. Like Renoir's Rules of the Game or Carne's Children of Paradise, the ensemble cast grows on you with each viewing. Along with Wild Strawberries, a good place to start with Bergman.

Sardonic morality story about four couples who represent the different aspects of love. Sometimes a deadpan comedy, sometimes a dark introspective epic. I loved the scenes between the Count and Fredrik, showing off the different faces of arrogance. In some places it can get overly melodramatic - the orchestra hits, for example, no longer have the same meaning.

The visual metaphors are the most subtle, and most interesting, that I have ever seen (many are laughably overt and cleverly overshadow the more subtle ones). If you don't speak Swedish and have to read subtitles, try as much as you can to read the faces of the women as they speak, especially Charlotte and Desiree as they try and overcome their phallic universe.

I approached Smiles of a Summer Night as a fan of Sondheim's score for A Little Night Music. (I'd never seen the show.) Smiles served as a good beginning to Bergman films: it's got some very dry humour, some very physical comedy, and the trademark panorama of morality that accompanies a Bergman character set. Overall, the film expresses a rather subtle message wrapped in both lighthearted comedy and heavy family relations (not unlike the Sondheim score). It's a message worth hearing, and Bergman's handiwork make its rather deep aspects more approachable. Let's not also forget the beautiful cast and settings, which are appreciated in ANY language. :)

Ingmar Bergman's bona fides as a stage director and playwright are on full display in this early romantic comedy. The plot is carefully contrived, the dialogue crisp and witty, the staging very deliberate; some years would pass before Bergman was established enough to go out on a limb with the films that were more daring in style and content. This film reflects that those opportunities were well-earned.

Bergman made many films, this one made him.

"Smiles Of A Summer Night" is a landmark in the Solemn Swede's carrier. Most recently it made the All-TIMES 100 list of best films compiled by renowned film critics Corliss and Schickel for Time Magasine.

As late as in an interview recorded in 2003, Ingmar Bergman agreed to call "Smiles Of A Summer Night" a watershed in his film career. "After its success", he recalled "I had my hands free... I was able to do whatever I wanted to do." Truly enough, he went on to make, in immediate succession, such great films like "The Seventh Seal" and "Wild Strawberries".

And it was only the beginning of what best can be described as Bergmansk phenomenon. "The Virgin Spring", Through A Glass Darkly", "Persona", "Cries and Whispers", "Autumn Sonata", "Fanny and Alexander". One true classic after the other was bestowed upon us by this undisputed grandmaster of the world cinema during the course of his rich, fruitful career.

With superb acting, lively dialog and impeccable cinematography, "Smiles" leaves nothing to be desired. It seems to be a happy story, at least from the audience's point of view.

Still, the director recalls, in his published memoirs, how depressed he was being stuck with the script, how bad he felt during production, and how embarrassed he was to find out about film's great success at Cannes, where it won the Grand Prix. All this was unprecedented for the producers, the Svensk Filmindustri as they responded "like an old lady who never knew to waltz, now suddenly being asked by a variety of cavaliers", to quote Bergman.

Ingmar Bergman's Smiles of a Summer Night presents an unusual romantic comedy. This is not a mindless date night film where boy meets girl and, after a series of funny encounters, they fall in love and live happily ever after. Instead, it's a comedy that's more witty by means of clever dialogue and verbal one-upsmanship in a film with a variety of romantic entanglements.

We have Frederik, the older widower and sarcastic lawyer, his very young second wife Anne, and Frederik's son Henrik, a seemingly troubled youth studying theology who much more closely mirrors Anne's age. We also have Malcolm, a jealous military man and the perpetually unfaithful husband to Charlotte, herself an aggressive and seemingly vengeful personality. Then there is Petra, the promiscuous household servant, and Desiree, the famous actress and mistress to, at one time or another, both Malcolm and Frederik, who ties the different pieces of the plot together.

Throughout, these various characters meet, spar, ally, disband, arrange, and rearrange themselves. The dialogue is excellent, and the movie presents the viewer with ample material on which to reflect about the meaning of love and the right approach to relationships, including whether the current answer is the permanent answer or merely a transient solution. As for the negatives, the music came across as overly dramatic and pushy, as though telling you how to feel about the scene, rather than subtly enhancing the experience, and certain plot developments felt overly sudden and forced.

On the whole, the movie certainly is worthy of a watch.

Bergman's Smiles on a Summer Night is a delightful and mild-mannered comedic effort studying love and the different natures of relationships those of opposing genders go through with one another in regards to feeling strongly for the opposite sex. It is quite the engaging piece observing the webs and complications created once one person's feelings for another takes over, a film balancing those whom are married with former girlfriends they cannot rid their feelings of; with young men wanting to begin relationships; with married women whom feel for younger men despite being indirectly related to them, to name but a few. It is quite the involving, rather scathing film looking at people rich in attitudes towards culture and finer things but utterly devoid of any kind of sensible or moral outlook on sexual relations; a quite brutal comedy covering people sneering down at those of a generational difference below, despite those of whom occupy such a space are infinitely the more well-natured and humanist amidst all the other fatuity.

The film begins with a lawyer named Fredrik Egerman (Björnstrand) occupying his decorated office, a rich space inside of a large and rich manor house in Sweden. From the manner in which his general location is decorated with props and items, we can tell the man has a substantially large amount of money and appears both regimental and thorough in his business, particularly when the time comes to speak to his younger son Henrick (Bjelfvenstam) who's a piano player; is studying to become a priest and has feelings for both his mother-in-law Anne (Jacobsson) and a young house-servant called Petra (Andersson). Egerman has tickets to an opera that evening, instilling a sense of high-culture about the man further embedded when it is revealed he will be watching a former girl friend of his within the show, suggesting previous exposure to those working within an industry of such high-end culture. Furthermore, the actress he was once in a relationship with unfolded not so soon after a previous wife died thus implying a mentality of the man as one that enjoys the company of women.

Frederik observes this actress-come-former lover Desiree Armfeldt (Dahlbeck) on stage, Desiree given a big build up as she lingers off stage by the characters within the play further-still characters within the film, dialogue to do with the power she has over most men complimenting what will later transpire in the film as a whole; her appearance on stage is greeted by an array of applause and she is the focal point of everybody's attention. Fredrik meets her back-stage, his once stiff and regimental demeanour made to look somewhat false as she bosses him about in her dressing room and later comes to look down and laugh at him at his drenched figure having fallen over once outside into a large puddle. Their relationship and knowing of one another will come to form a great part of Bergman's film. Cause for concern arrives in the form of a count named Carl-Magnus Malcolm (Kulle), a man of militarian profession; Desiree's current lover and a man whom verbally reiterates his credentials when it comes to conflict and disagreements when he talks of his rich and successful history in dueling and fighting; he's also pretty handy with a fruit knife and barely even reacts to a gentleman (in the form of Fredrik) standing there wearing not much in his lover's dormitory such is his professionalism. He clashes with Frederik when Carl-Magnus finds him in Desiree's back-stage dressing room, and Bergman frames them in profile with Desiree's beaming figure standing between them highlighting what, or who, it is they are essentially clashing over, face to face.

The film is deceptive in its initial beginning and surroundings, the film not so much about a love triangle involving Fredrik, this actress and her current lover as much it is about human nature's reaction toward love and firm relationships; the sorts of relationships people get into with those of the opposite gender and the vast characteristics and mannerisms that define these relationships as perpetrated by those enacting it. Some are forlorn and forbidden; some are comedic and rather quirksome, others are defined by one man's general attitude towards women and its consequent points during which violence threatens to burst into life as a result of said separate attitudes. Bergam balances scenes of great drama and tension with that of lighter, fluffier content rather well; all the while maintaining focus of the film's core thesis and doing well to engross us in the different stories and strands each of the bevy of characters find themselves caught up in.

There is a reason that Ingmar Bergman is best known for his brooding, dark dramas, most often discussed on deep philosophical, psychological, and religious questions that are ultimately unanswerable. Existential angst? He is your best friend for commiseration. He likes to focus on the struggles of the relatable man or woman- but never is it a simple struggle. They are significant, wrenching, profoundly powerful events that affect the characters' psyches and souls; life altering decisions are made or made for them. It is quite rare for most conscientious viewers to walk away from a Bergman film unscathed. It is quite common to be even more depressed and perplexed about existence and life after one of his films- which can better be described as experiences. Immersive experiences that audiences might not love, but will undoubtedly raise questions and start conversations.

Naturally, then, one would be skeptical and begin his only widely known comedy with apprehension. As usual with the prolific auteur, it is written and directed by Bergman; it was later adapted a few times for the stage, referenced and spoofed by popular culture many times, and was reworked by Woody Allen almost thirty years later as "A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy".

"Smiles of a Summer Night", which- as a character boldly proclaims to his lover- refers to the three smiles the Midsummer Night (the shortest night of the year) places upon the four pairs of lovers. With each "smile", they move closer towards untangling their- not love triangle; not love rectangle- love knot? Sounds confusing? It is indeed a little difficult to keep track of all the characters, especially when character development is such a minimum that audiences may not be very invested.

A critical success, but audiences have had mixed reactions. Maybe it is a certain type of comedy, outdated and reliant on cultural knowledge? Whatever the case may be, there was little laughter coming from me. There were some cleverly stages situations and witty dialogue, but they evoked a smile at best and a furrowed brow the rest of the time. Still, it was light enough with a harmonious ending- such a rare occurrence with the serious Ingmar Bergman that, at the very least, it deserves some credit for being a refreshing change of pace. That being said, we are surely ready for something more intellectually and psychologically stimulating, the high standard we have come to expect from the world's most celebrated Swedish filmmaker.