Dreams (1955 film)

Written and directed by Ingmar Bergman, Kvinnodrom (Dreams) is the story of a model agency owner and a young model who go to a city for an assignment as the two embark on different journeys to find themselves. The film plays into the world of two different women who both endure elements of heartbreak as they both wonder if they can find anything that can help them. Starring Harriet Andersson, Eva Dahlbeck, and Gunnar Bjornstrand. Kvinnodrom is a compelling yet rapturous film from Ingmar Bergman.

The film revolves two different women who travel to a small town in Sweden for a modeling assignment as they both cope with heartbreak during the trip. One of which is the head of a modeling agency in Susanne (Eva Dahlbeck) and the other is a young model named Doris (Harriet Andersson) as they travel from Stockholm to Gothenburg as they each embark on different journeys. For Susanne, she copes with an affair with a married man in Henrik (Ulf Palme) that isn’t going anywhere while Doris had just broken up with her boyfriend as she meets an aging consul named Otto (Gunnar Bjornstrand) as she spends the day with him where he buys her lavish gifts. Ingmar Bergman’s screenplay not only reveals the anguish of heartbreak for these two women but also into what they want for themselves.

All of which is largely told in the span of an entire day in Gothenburg, with the exception of the film’s beginning and end, that plays into these disparate desires that these two women want. Doris is a young woman that broke up with her boyfriend all because he doesn’t want her to go to Gothenburg as her encounter with Otto starts off fine until she notices why Otto is intrigued by her as it also relates to his own family drama. For Susanne, she would spend part of the day watching Henrik’s home from afar wondering if she could have that life of a family. Bergman’s approach to structure is very unique where much of the second act plays into Doris’ time with Otto and the third is about Susanne’s meeting with Henrik where the relationship is going as it would play into not just what Susanne wants but also what Doris wants for herself after her encounter with Otto.

Bergman’s direction is very entrancing for the way he tells the story as it is shot largely on location in Gothenburg in a full-frame aspect ratio. The direction has Bergman use a few wide shots to play into the compositions while creating something that does feel very lively for the scenes involving Doris and Otto. Most notably in how he shoots from her point of view where she is riding roller coasters and other rides that Otto takes her too. The direction also has some interesting compositions in the way it plays into the drama while also creating moments that are provocative as it relates to Susanne and her eventual meeting with Henrik. Bergman would maintain an air of suspense but also some moments of anguish as it plays to both Susanne and Doris coping with failed love and what they want. Even as it relates to the idea of fantasy of their desires but also contend with the harsh realities that their surrounded by. Overall, Bergman creates a very mesmerizing and fascinating film about two women dealing with heartbreak.

Cinematographer Hilding Blah does excellent work with the film‘s black-and-white photography to capture the vibrant look of the locations along with some intricate lighting for some scenes set at night to play into the drama. Editor Carl-Olov Skeppstedt does amazing work with the editing with its unconventional approach to rhythmic cuts for a few scenes as well as some straightforward yet methodical cuts to play into the drama. Production designer Gittan Gustafsson does brilliant work with the look of the hotel rooms that Susanne and Doris live in as well as the main room in Otto‘s home. The sound work of Olle Jacobsson is fantastic for capturing some of the intense dramatic moments including a scene where Susanne screams outside on a train though it’s only the sounds of the train that is heard along with some of the jazz music that is played on the film.

Finally, there’s the film’s superb cast as it includes notable small performances from Sven Lindberg as Doris’ boyfriend, Benkt-Ake Benktsson as a model gallery associate in the film’s opening and closing scenes, Inga Landgre as Henrik’s wife, and Kerstin Hedeby as Otto’s daughter whose visit is an eerie one as she would insult Doris greatly. Ulf Palme is excellent as Henrik as Susanne’s married lover who is unsure if he wants to continue the affair in order to be with his family yet is in love with Susanne. Gunnar Bjornstrand is fantastic as Otto as an old consul who falls for Doris as he lavishes her with gifts and takes her to his home only to be struck by reality from the appearance of his daughter.

Eva Dahlbeck is brilliant as Susanne as a modeling agency head who is in charge of an assignment as she copes with the turmoil over her relationship with Henrik as she wonders if they do have a future. Harriet Andersson is amazing as Doris as a young model dealing with a break-up as she is charmed and wooed by an aging consul only to realize how cruel the world is upon meeting his daughter.

Kvinnodrom is a remarkable film from Ingmar Bergman that features great performances from Eva Dahlbeck and Harriet Andersson. While it is one of his early triumphs and certainly a compelling exploration into heartbreak. It is also a film that manages to play into the way women are forced to look for love prompting them to find their own identities. In the end, Kvinnodrom is an exhilarating film from Ingmar Bergman.

Ingmar Bergman Films: (Crisis) - (It Rains on Our Love) - (A Ship to India) - (Music of Darkness) - (Port of Call) - (Prison) - (Thirst (1949 film)) - (To Joy) - (This Can’t Happen Here) - (Summer Interlude) - Secrets of Women - Summer with Monika - Sawdust and Tinsel - A Lesson in Love - Smiles of a Summer Night - The Seventh Seal - (Mr. Sleeman is Coming) - Wild Strawberries - (The Venetian) - (Brink of Life) - (Rabies) - The Magician - The Virgin Spring - The Devil’s Eye - Through a Glass Darkly - Winter Light - The Silence - All These Women - Persona - (Simulantia-Daniel) - Hour of the Wolf - (Shame (1968 film)) - (The Rite) - The Passion of Anna - (The Touch) - Cries & Whispers - Scenes from a Marriage - (The Magic Flute) - (Face to Face) - (The Serpent’s Egg) - Autumn Sonata - From the Life of the Marionettes - Fanny & Alexander - (After the Rehearsal) - (Karin’s Face) - (The Blessed Ones) - (In the Presence of a Clown) - (The Image Makers) - Saraband

© thevoid99 2015

2015 Cannes Marathon: Miss Julie (1951 film)

(Co-Winner of the Palme d’Or w/ Miracle in Milan at the 1951 Cannes Film Festival)

Based on the play by August Strindberg, Miss Julie is the story of a count’s daughter who falls in love with one of her servants in 19th Century Sweden. Written for the screen and directed by Alf Sjoberg, the film is an exploration into class, sex, and power at a time where everyone had a role to play as a woman struggles with this role. Starring Anita Bjork and Ulf Palme. Miss Julie is an evocative yet intense drama from Alf Sjoberg.

Set in 19th Century Sweden, the film revolves a woman who just broke off her engagement with another man as she copes with her unhappiness with one of her servants whom she falls in love with. It’s a film that plays into a world where two people are in love but are forced to deal with their class and social differences as well as what is expected for them. Even as the titular character (Anita Bjork) is coping with memories of her own childhood and her late mother (Lissa Alandh) where Julie also talks to the servant Jean (Ulf Palme) who keeps her company while expressing his own feelings for her. Still, Jean knows that being with her would cause trouble as he’s already betrothed to someone else. Just as the two reflect on their own childhood, the script allows the two to bond as well as ponder the possibilities of being together. At the same time, the two cope with their own internal struggles of who they are and where they come from as it plays to the reasons into why they couldn’t be together.

Alf Sjoberg’s direction is very mesmerizing for the way he captures not just life in the middle of 19th Century countryside where many of the servants at this estate are having a celebration in the middle of this intense story. Sjoberg’s direction not only has some wide and medium shots to play into this celebration and events that goes on outside of the story but also play into a world where Julie is and how oppressed her life was as a child and as an adult. Sjoberg’s usage of tracking shots and other stylistic shots that blur the idea of past and present not only help create moments that play into Julie and Jean’s own tumultuous past but also their own sense of repression. Sjoberg’s close-ups with these backdrops that play into not just Julie and Jean’s own desires but also the world that they come from. Most notably in the former as it relates to her relationship with her late mother and the ideals that her mother tried to instill upon her which would add to Julie’s own anguish about herself and what she wants. Overall, Sjoberg creates a truly captivating and mesmerizing film about a woman’s anguish towards what she wants and what she is expected to do.

Cinematographer Goran Strindberg does amazing work with the film‘s black-and-white photography that manages to bring in something natural to some of the film‘s exterior settings with its ponds and creeks along with some unique lighting for some scenes set at night. Editor Lennart Wallen does excellent work with the editing with its stylish usage of transition wipes as well as inspired usage of dissolves to play into the idea of past and present. Art director Bibi Lindstrom does fantastic work with the look of the estate and its interiors to play into the world that Julie lives in. The sound work of Lars Lalin is terrific to play into the atmosphere of the celebration gathering as well as sparse moments inside the rooms of the estate. The film’s music by Dag Wiren is superb for its orchestral-based score that plays into the drama with some eerie pieces as well as some somber moments that play into Julie’s sense of torment.

The film’s brilliant cast include some notable small roles from Inger Norberg and Jan Hagerman in their respective roles as the young Julie and Jean, Kurt-Olof Sundstrom as Julie’s fiancee, Inga Gill as a servant named Viola who has feelings for Jean, Ake Claesson as a doctor in a flashback scene, Margaretha Krook as the house governess from the flashback scenes, and Max von Sydow as a farmhand who spies on Julie and Jean. Anders Henrikson is terrific as Julie’s father who adores his daughter while Lissi Alandh is fantastic as Julie’s mother in the flashback scenes who is a woman of immense darkness as she would do things that would trouble Julie as an adult.

Marta Dorff is amazing as the cook Kristin who is betrothed to Jean as she also talks to Julie as she brings a complexity to her character as someone that wants to help Julie but is very devoted to Jean whom she loves very much. Ulf Palme is excellent as Jean as a servant who has feelings for Julie as he tries to serve her while willing to talk to her about her own feelings and offering her the chance to escape from her life. Finally, there’s Anita Bjork in a radiant performance as the titular character as this woman who is in love with Jean but her social and class standing as well as her disdain towards men bring a sense of anguish into the character as it’s a very intense performance from Bjork.

Miss Julie is a remarkable film from Alf Sjoberg that features great performances from Anita Bjork and Ulf Palme. It’s a film that plays into the idea of desires in a world where two people are repressed by their own social and class backgrounds as well as what is expected from them in these roles. In the end, Miss Julie is a tremendously rich and powerful film from Alf Sjoberg.

Alf Sjoberg Films: (Den starkaste) - (They Staked Their Lives) - (Den blomstertid) - (Hem fran Babylon) - (The Heavenly Play) - (Kungajakt) - Torment (1944 film) - (Resan bort) - (Iris and the Lieutenant) - (Only a Mother) - (Barabbas (1953 film)) - (Only a Mother) - (Karin Mansdotter) - (Wild Birds) - (Last Pair Out) - (The Judge (1960 film)) - (On (1966 film)) - (The Father (1969 film))

© thevoid99 2015