Review of Sawdust and Tinsel (1953) by Richard S — 29 Nov 2007

It's been a long while since I've seen a prime-era Bergman film for the first time. Although I've not seen all of his early work, if the work in the Eclipse set are fairly typical, this may very well have been his best film up until this point. Maybe I'm just tired of the ones that are already in the canon, but this ranks pretty highly.

The sound design is excellent. It's his first collaboration with Nykvst. It features an Eisenstein homage. It gives a long term Bergman collaborator a great role (Frost). For a film from the early 50s it is rather unflinching in its depiction of desperate people in desperate circumstances. The lines/scenes between the fey stage actor and down and out circus girl are memorable. It's a must see for Bergman fans and a decent place to start or new initiates.