This is my third Bergman film I've seen and I'm amazed by how different the three of them were. I've seen this story adapted a few times (most notably the Sondheim musical A Little Night Music) so it was nice to finally see the original. It doesn't connect with me on any sort of deep level, but I enjoyed my time watching it. There are some extremely funny moments (I laughed out loud when Henrik, in his moment of despair, accidentally brings his stepmother's bed through the wall). Overall, it's an extremely *pleasant* movie and I liked it, but that's as far as it goes for me. 3 stars.
Best Part: I found the ending extremely satisfying, much more than I was anticipating.
Worst Part: Not really a bad moment but since I'm so familiar with the musical, I kept getting thrown off when they didn't sing... most notably "Every Day a Little Death," which has a lot of its lyrics taken almost directly from Charlotte's dialogue.
FlickChart: #619, below Synecdoche, New York and above My Best Friend's Wedding.
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This was the first Bergman movie I ever saw, which I watched in October, 2010 for a month-long Criterion Collection viewing challenge. Here's what I wrote about it at the time:
My first Ingmar Bergman film! Talk about eye candy...Ulla Jacobson, Eva Dahlbeck, Harriet Anderson and Margit Carlquist were all smokin' hot. It's about a group of love triangles and it's a bit hectic, but I thought it played more enjoyably than Divorzio all'italiana, which explored similar themes. There was some lesbian subtext between Anne and Petra the Maid that I rather appreciated. Fans of Sex and the City should be able to appreciate this film, and its frank celebration of feminine sexuality.
One little note: I had to interrupt the movie for about 20 minutes dealing with Crohn's and when I resumed, I forgot to read the subtitles. I'd gotten so into the movie, I had become oblivious to the fact it wasn't in my native tongue.
At this moment, I have this ranked #334 on Flickchart, between Joe Versus the Volcano and Batman: Year One.
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