Smiles of a Summer Night (1957)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Let's be realistic.

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The users have been remarkably consistent in their ratings: whether male or female, 18-29 or over 45, they always fall between 7.8 and 8. This must mean that Bergman has made a film that pleases all age groups and genders, a remarkable feat. I found Smiles of a Summer night to be one of his best, looking over his extraordinary 50-odd year career.The story isn't that complicated; it's a bit less involved than Rules of the Game, to which it might be compared. There is a plot between two women to win back the men they care about that is worked out very well. Eva Dahlbeck and Margit Carlqvist play delightfully as they work out the details. (spoiler) Ulla Jacobsson is so much younger than her husband that you know from the first reel that trouble lies ahead. When she finally makes her move, it's with the feeling that the inevitable has finally happened. This picture is funny without provoking belly laughs, in the way that Mozart opera is.

Fredrik Egerman is troubled; he has a young wife whom he fears he loves as a doting father than a husband. He seeks help from an old flame, Desiree, who is having an affair with a pompous soldier, Count Malcolm. Desiree invites both men and their wives and Egerman's gloomy son Henrik to her mother's country house for the weekend ...This touching, funny and beautifully observed comedy of sexual manners is one of my favourite Bergman films, made just before he was about to become a key figure in world cinema with movies like Det Sjunde Inseglet and Smultronstället. If you only know him for his heavy-going introspective dramas like Persona and Viskningar Och Rop, check this out as a means of contrast. The story is wonderfully sweet, the characters are sharp and brilliantly played by the entire ensemble and the dialogue will make you chuckle throughout (particularly Wifstrand as the dotty mother with the short attention span). As with all his work, it's Bergman's insight into the universal frailties of human nature that makes the movie so touching; we have a man who has married for beauty not love, a femme fatale who is tired of twisting men around her finger, young lovers who careen between ecstatic joy and suicidal misery, a man who foolishly ranks his pride above all else, and a self-loathing wife who can't stop loving a cheating husband. Bergman dances these characters around each other, making his points with subtle skill and entertaining us with style and wit. The four Swedish female leads - Dahlbeck, Jacobsson, Andersson and Carlqvist - are all stunningly beautiful women. Loosely remade twice; once as a Stephen Sondheim musical (A Little Night Music) and also as a charming Woody Allen farce (A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy). English title - Smiles Of A Summer Night.

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")

"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."