Review of Sawdust and Tinsel (1953) by Tim H — 08 Feb 2008

You know, for a second...I actually thought this could be a happy movie. IT'S A MOVIE ABOUT A CIRCUS?! You can understand my logic, right? Okay, but it's Bergman. Bergman is depressing. This is Bergman at his most depressing. But here's the kicker...it's an amazing movie.

This feels like one of Bergman's most contained films. It isn't very long and really uses some of the best cinematography that I've seen in his movies. I couldn't help comparing the flashback of the clown to the closing of The Seventh Seal, but I really like that famous moment so I'm glad to see that mentality used here.

Bergman deals with a world of cruelty and somehow makes it real. I know that there are just evil people out there who are so filled with pride and cockiness that they have to tear everyone else down. Perhaps I'm blessed that the negativity in my life is temptered to tolerable limits. But it is hard to watch genuinely good people (who have made mistakes, sure) get torn down. But Bergman isn't necessarily a pessimist. Bergman, I believe, is a crafty optimist. While all this crap is raining down from the skies, there's always that silver lining that has to do with the future. Sure, the situation presented to us hasn't worked out in the way that the characters hoped, but life keeps going, no matter how dark the world gets. In this case, it involves shooting a circus bear. (I told you this movie was depressing!).

I really have to compliment Criterion again. I've noticed with a lot of their more recent releases, the prints look fantastic. These are movies that have been torn to shreds, but Criterion gets them near perfect. Sawdust and Tinsel and Le Bonheur (review coming soon!) both visually blew me away and I have so say thanks to this company for making these movies available.

By the way, (little side story) if you can't find Sawdust and Tinsel, you need not look further than your local Giant Eagle. That's right, I bought this and Drunken Angel at Giant Eagle. Man, I wish we had Giant Eagle.