Review of Smiles of a Summer Night (1955) by Serkan T — 21 Mar 2008

While held up as a master of cinema, some revisionist historians have pointed out that Ingmar Bergman simply translated his work as a playwright into the cinematic medium, basically rendering a series of film-as-theatre essays instead of working with the cinematic medium as an art form unto itself.

While this is true to a point - many of his chamber dramas could very well be performed on the stage - the seriousness of his often dour ouevre makes most of his work so universal it transcends the idea of media boundaries.

That is, with the exception of his international breakout hit Smiles of a Summer Night. Bergman himself claimed to have no talent for comedy, and Smiles of a Summer Night is no exception in spite of its supposedly high stature.

For viewers of the Seventh Seal who found the comic relief of the carnival folk unbearable, imagine an entire film of ONLY that kind of humour and you've come close to this film. What was striking about the film's predominance of comedy was how stagey the proceedings were, and if not for the plethora of brilliant films he would make in the wake of this below average film, I would have to agree with the criticism that he was not a cinematic artist.

There may be something in here for fans of stage comedies, but for my tastes the joyless 'silence of God' musings of depressing Bergman are far more impressive.