The story of three women from different, but related, backgrounds about to give birth in a hospital in Sweden around the start of World War I.
Via inter-cut flashbacks we are shown how they ended up in their situation.
Often beautiful Sven Nykvist photo and many great directorial flourishes from director Mai Zetterling makes this a treat.
The parallels with Bergman are many. For instance, apart from Mr. Nykvist, many of the actors have appeared in various Bergman productions, the themes dealt with here are very similar to various Bergman films, and so on. Dissimilar enough to be interesting though.
Has some very interesting scenes that I would imagine were very controversial at the time, such as two gay men frolicking and getting mock-married in a church, a graphic shot of a baby's birth, some female nudity, a lesbian kiss, etc..
