Smiles of a Summer NightLove is a game, and sometimes the pieces need to get shaken up in a tumbler before they all fall into place. Smiles of a Summer Night is a romantic comedy of rotating partners and witty repartee by Ingmar Bergman. The story follows a prestigious attorney, Fredrik Egerman (Gunnar Björnstrand), whose recent, young, and still virginal wife, Anne (Ulla Jacobsson), suspects her husband still pines for his former lover, stage actress Desiree Armfeldt (Eva Dahlbeck). But Anne and Fredrik's son, Henrik (Björn Bjelfvenstam)--both the same age--also secretly harbor thoughts for one another--and so it goes when ever more lovers enter the stew.
|
|
Ingmar Bergman's work has always had an interest in theatricality and stagecraft as much as mastery of the screen, and this is evident in Smiles of a Summer Night, especially in the plot--Desiree even teases Fredrik of this at one point. The story shares much in common with the style of romantic comedies by William Shakespeare, notably "A Midsummer Night's Dream", in that the affections one lover expresses for another doesn't feel as authentic as the one we secretly know they harbor for the one they are bound to end up with, someone who compliments their personality--their natural destination in this pursuit of love. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" utilized magic as the catalyst for this untying of the proverbial Gordian knot, but in the case of Smiles of a Summer Night, it comes from the intentionally volatile idea proffered by Desiree to throw a get together for her, the Egermans, and her own jealous military lover, Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm (Jarl Kulle)...not to mention his wife, Charlotte (Margit Carlqvist), who also happens to be a friend of Anne's. Even the dinner they all share is pregnant with tension, and is presided over by Desiree's mother (Naima Wifstrand), who invokes something like an incantation over the wine, describing it as a metaphorical love potion. The dynamic of these characters involved in a game of musical hearts (and beds) also recalls Mozart's classic opera, "The Marriage of Figaro"; only through the hardship these souls endure, struggling in vain to resist their genuine emotions, are they granted the sweet release of cathartic enlightenment when their foolishness is revealed. These characters are also similar to assorted archetypes of the stage, including the old cynic that is Fredrik, an idealistic youth tormented by the concept of virtue (Henrik)...there is even the lascivious maid, Petra (Harriet Andersson), who attempts to seduce Henrik, though the noble lad's heart isn't in it. Desiree is the one who ultimately aligns the stars of these houses by provoking confrontations, engaging in treatises with Charlotte, and even stokes Fredrik's affections when she can, knowing full well what buttons of his to push. These romantic waltzes and social machinations recall the works of Jane Austen, like "Pride and Prejudice", and even the recent adaptation of another of her works, Love & Friendship. Similarly, Smiles of a Summer Night is itself a turn-of-the-century period piece, where the 20th century itself is still virginal, not unlike Anne and Henrik.
Romantic comedy is a far more delicate beast than so many modern attempts at the genre would lead one to believe. The balance is not like that of a traditional comedy, where it is enough to promote uproarious laughter via slapstick, silliness, and so on, but it also requires establishing not only romance as a key component, but also engender empathy with the characters--likable or not--in order to illustrate their heart's desire. This doesn't even mean that the characters must be natural--in truth, the characters of Smiles of a Summer Night are very colorful and witty. Fredrik unwittingly creates the sense of doubt in Anne's heart over his faithfulness when he longingly whispers for Desiree in his sleep, making their subsequent visit to the theater like something out of "Hamlet", where in she'll catch the conscience of her own husband. Desiree and Fredrik's exchanges when they are reunited--when he ostensibly seeks her advice on what to do with his young wife--has them trading barbs like swashbucklers trading parries and thrusts, their own evident attraction to one another suppressed under sharp-tongued retorts, a moment similar to "The Taming of the Shrew", or an episode of "Moonlighting". Even Desiree's mother makes it clear where her daughter got her aplomb for juggling relationships when they plot out the overnight retreat for all of the key players, sharing pithy replies to one another and clever maxims between them. And Anne's own sexual frustration is so thick, she is practically bouncing off the walls at home, even whistling to her caged canary, sharing a sense of mutual imprisonment, metaphorical or otherwise. Anne keeps finding herself in encounter after encounter with the people in the house, moments deliberately staged to suggest that at any minute, she might leap into bed with one. Although Smiles of a Summer Night is about juggling romances and sexual dalliances, it is altogether an innocent affair, with a good deal of details implied through coy innuendo or acknowledgement after the fact. When Petra meets one of the Armfeldt's valets--the lusty Frid (Åke Fridell)--he tells her stories of the various "smiles of a summer night" between their bouts of rolling in the hay--literally--proverbial pillow talk which also serves as a precursor to the various settling of accounts and conjoining of hearts for the guests of the estate. They are sweet words--like sweet cognac--shared between lovers, as all the mismatched pieces are joined with the appropriate partners--a philosophy not unlike Robin Goodfellow's own proclamation about offending shadows.
Recommended for: Fans of a witty and heartfelt comedy about misaligned lovers and rectifying the pains that come with disobeying the heart's desire. Drawing from his fondness for the stage, Ingmar Bergman's Smiles of a Summer Night should similarly appeal to fans of Shakespeare, Wilde, and many more.
Romantic comedy is a far more delicate beast than so many modern attempts at the genre would lead one to believe. The balance is not like that of a traditional comedy, where it is enough to promote uproarious laughter via slapstick, silliness, and so on, but it also requires establishing not only romance as a key component, but also engender empathy with the characters--likable or not--in order to illustrate their heart's desire. This doesn't even mean that the characters must be natural--in truth, the characters of Smiles of a Summer Night are very colorful and witty. Fredrik unwittingly creates the sense of doubt in Anne's heart over his faithfulness when he longingly whispers for Desiree in his sleep, making their subsequent visit to the theater like something out of "Hamlet", where in she'll catch the conscience of her own husband. Desiree and Fredrik's exchanges when they are reunited--when he ostensibly seeks her advice on what to do with his young wife--has them trading barbs like swashbucklers trading parries and thrusts, their own evident attraction to one another suppressed under sharp-tongued retorts, a moment similar to "The Taming of the Shrew", or an episode of "Moonlighting". Even Desiree's mother makes it clear where her daughter got her aplomb for juggling relationships when they plot out the overnight retreat for all of the key players, sharing pithy replies to one another and clever maxims between them. And Anne's own sexual frustration is so thick, she is practically bouncing off the walls at home, even whistling to her caged canary, sharing a sense of mutual imprisonment, metaphorical or otherwise. Anne keeps finding herself in encounter after encounter with the people in the house, moments deliberately staged to suggest that at any minute, she might leap into bed with one. Although Smiles of a Summer Night is about juggling romances and sexual dalliances, it is altogether an innocent affair, with a good deal of details implied through coy innuendo or acknowledgement after the fact. When Petra meets one of the Armfeldt's valets--the lusty Frid (Åke Fridell)--he tells her stories of the various "smiles of a summer night" between their bouts of rolling in the hay--literally--proverbial pillow talk which also serves as a precursor to the various settling of accounts and conjoining of hearts for the guests of the estate. They are sweet words--like sweet cognac--shared between lovers, as all the mismatched pieces are joined with the appropriate partners--a philosophy not unlike Robin Goodfellow's own proclamation about offending shadows.
Recommended for: Fans of a witty and heartfelt comedy about misaligned lovers and rectifying the pains that come with disobeying the heart's desire. Drawing from his fondness for the stage, Ingmar Bergman's Smiles of a Summer Night should similarly appeal to fans of Shakespeare, Wilde, and many more.