1953
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
So I guess a later addition of this Book traded Winter Light for this Bergman film. If readers were hoping I grew out of my hating Bergman phase, I regret to report very little growth in that area. I still found this to be a rather dull affair.
Harry and Monika are in love and we get to watch them spend a rather sickening summer frolicking around and being insufferably happy. Once summer is over, Monika finds it difficult to adjust to her new life as mother and homemaker.
Apparently this caused quite a stir upon its release, as it features a naked woman. It's not even a particularly sexy scene, but I guess this was back in the Doris Days when people were desperate for anything edgy.
What was special about Harry and Monika? I still don't know. Maybe that was the point, that they were just two ordinary people that thought their love made them extraordinary, and they were wrong. Monika was only interesting in her misery and Harry was such a blank slate I found most scenes with him rather boring.
Still, because it is Bergman, it is a technically beautiful movie, even if Monika and Harry light each other's cigarettes in the most obnoxious way imaginable.
RATING: ***--
Interesting Facts:
Most widely viewed Bergman film in the U.S.
