Review of Smiles of a Summer Night (1955) by Luis Diego R — 27 Oct 2007

Another excellent film by Bergman!! A movie about the battle of the sexes, which sometimes avoided uncomfortable themes or taboos and told the story straight without missing any detail. One of the bitchiest movies out there, it almost made me remember All About Eve, because it described what some women may do to achieve what they want.

This time, they're after men, almost placing them as objects of desire than like a "person". It plays with emotions, and shows some great performances by Gunnar Björnstrand and Eva Dahlbeck.

This movie really was ahead of its time! Another theme was adultery, treated in a way very particular. There were many cases of adultery, and the one more surprising was by the preacher boy, who dedicated his life to God.

So, it give him a human characteristic, the desire for sex, which not even his theology career may take away from him. Virginity: and the way characters react to it, if they're not virgin they enjoy sex.

.. if they are virgin, can only think of ways to get rid of it and trying to take fears away. And finally, the roulette scene was genius, it had me tied to my seat waiting for something to happen. An excellent film that explores some aspects of human nature, separately for men and for women,.