Review of Sawdust and Tinsel (1953) by Antonius B — 14 Apr 2016

My goodness, wasn't Ingmar Bergman on fire during the 50's? While the story in Tinsel and Sawdust is less pleasant than some of his other films, focusing on the cruel side of love and the fates people are sometime locked into, he tells it beautifully, and again has a wonderful cast.

A man (Åke Grönberg) has left his wife and sons for three years to lead a traveling circus from town to town. He's having an affair with the trick horseback rider (Harriet Andersson), but tensions arise when he plans to visit his wife and family. It's not a happy troupe in general - they're short of funds and costumes, and in a very artistic flashback, we see the clown (Anders Ek) humiliated by his wife, the bear-trainer, as she frolics in the nude with a bunch of soldiers, to a large regiment's delight. Anyway, as they look to borrow costumes, Andersson is hit on by an actor from a local theater (Hasse Ekman), and at first she has the upper hand and is cruel to him, but later, with the rift with Grönberg increasing, she's duped into having sex with him. Meanwhile Grönberg's wife firmly declines his offer to come back, saying she's not willing to sacrifice her peace of mind for anyone.

Harriet Andersson is stunning in this film and turns in an excellent performance, and Grönberg, Ek, and Ekman are all great as well. It doesn't feel like an overly heavy film, but everyone does seem trapped, in cages I suppose like the circus bear, leading diminished, sometimes violent lives, and that seems to be one of the movie's messages. The circus ultimately keeps moving along despite all the mistakes they've made, and Bergman seems to be relating it to the human condition, one that's invariably tinged with cruelty, and sadness.