Sommarnattens leende (1955)

 

In Sweden at the turn of the century, members of the upper class and their servants find themselves in a romantic tangle that they try to work out amidst jealousy and heartbreak.

Lively, witty and civilized comedy of manners is perfectly staged and cast in the sure hands of director Ingmar Bergman; sophisticated entertainment, but maybe a bit dated for a contemporary audience.

Halliwell***: "Comedy of high period manners with an admirable detached viewpoint and elegant trappings." 

Maltin***: "One of the finest romantic comedies ever made, a witty treatise on manners, mores, and sex..."

 

Skammen (1968)

In the midst of a civil war, former violinists, who have a tempestuous marriage, run a farm on a rural island, and in spite of their best efforts to escape their homeland, the war impinges on every aspect of their lives.

Highly intense study of what war does to human beings; the setting is incredibly bleak and apocalyptic, and the director doesn't spare the audience from some harrowing moments; the performances are excellent, of course.

Maltin****: "Powerful, brilliantly acted drama...One of Bergman's best."

Persona (1966)

A nurse is put in charge of a mute actress and finds that their personas are melding together.

A seemingly reduced two-person drama electrifies as an intense study with an innovative cinematic style; a true masterpiece that obviously has heavily influenced the art of cinema ever since.

Halliwell***: "Intense clinical study presented in a very complex cinematic manner which tends to obscure the main theme while providing endless fascination for cineastes."

Maltin***1/2: "Haunting, poetic, for discerning viewers..."