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Stars: Åke Grönberg, Harriet Andersson, Erik Strandmark, Hasse Ekman, Anders Ek | Written and Directed by Ingmar Bergman

In Skane, a county in southern Sweden, the bedraggled Alberti Circus caravan trundles through the rain and mud. They’ve had to leave half their costumes behind and they’re running out of food. Leader Albert (Åke Grönberg) is seriously considering shooting their performing bear for food. They stop off in a small town, where potential respite comes in the form of the Sjuberg Theatre Group. But it will also create a rift between Albert and his young mistress, Anne (Harriet Andersson). Albert’s wife and kids live nearby and he wants to drop them a visit. Gripped by jealousy, Anne hooks up with a lascivious actor, Frans (Hasse Ekman), from the Sjuberg troupe.

The fallout is toxic. It turns out both Albert and Anne just want to leave the nomadic circus life and settle down.

“The Circus Of Humiliation”

By Raymond Benson

The Criterion Collection has upgraded to Blu-ray their earlier DVD release of Ingmar Bergman’s 1953 feature, Sawdust and Tinsel (titled The Naked Night when the picture was first released theatrically in the U.S.). The visual quality has improved with a new 2K digital restoration that looks razor sharp with gorgeous contrasting black and white imagery, and it comes with an uncompressed monaural soundtrack.

Sawdust was a major step forward in the evolution of Bergman’s filmography, although it was not well-received by Swedish audiences at the time of release. It was most likely deemed too disturbing for what appeared to be a movie about a traveling circus. Note that this was before Bergman’s international breakthrough, which would occur a couple of years later with Smiles of a Summer Night. At the time of Sawdust and Tinsel, Bergman was mostly known just...

Ingmar Bergman’s ‘sad comedy’ finds desperation and adultery in his favorite milieu, the theater. He also gets to contrast the self-important thespians with those dubious circus nomads, even as both groups are shunned by civilian society.

Sawdust and Tinsel

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 412

1953 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 92 min. / Gycklarnas afton / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date December 18, 2018 / 39.95

Starring: Ake Grönberg, Harriet Andersson, Hasse Ekman, Anders Ek, Gudrun Brost, Annika Tretow, Erik Strandmark, Gunnar Bjornstrand, Curt Löwgren, Kiki.

Cinematography: Hilding Bladh, Sven Nykvist

Film Editor: Carl-Olov Skeppstedt

Original Music: Karl-Birger Blomdahl

Produced by Rune Waldekranz

Written and Directed by Ingmar Bergman

Criterion just issued a monster gift box of their entire collection of Ingmar Bergman films on Blu-ray, but they’re also continuing with single releases of the Swedish maestro’s classic titles. Step back before 1957 or so, and one will find more variety of tone in Bergman’s output.

On July 14, 1918 in Uppsala, Sweden, Ingmar Bergman was born, and a quarter-century later, he began to bring his cinematic voice to the world. A century after his brith, with an astounding body of work like few other directors and an influence that reverberates through the past many decades of filmmaking, his filmography is being celebrated like never before.

Starting this February at NYC’s Film Forum and then expanding throughout the nation “the largest jubilee of a single filmmaker” will be underway in a massive, 47-film retrospective. Featuring 35 new restorations, including The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Scenes from a Marriage, Fanny and Alexander, and many, many more, Janus Films has now debuted a beautiful trailer alongside the full line-up of films.

The Ingmar Bergman retrospective begins on February 7 at NYC’s Film Forum and then will expand to the following cities this spring:

Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Wa

Detroit Film Theatre,...

“Cries And Sisters”

By Raymond Benson

One of the late, great Ingmar Bergman’s skills as a filmmaker was to write and direct memorable roles for women. He was one of the few directors, such as Ford or Altman or Allen, who repeatedly relied on a “stock company” of actors throughout his career. While there were many wonderful male actors who worked for Bergman (Max von Sydow, Erland Josephson, Gunnar Björnstrand), we generally remember the women—Liv Ullmann, Harriet Andersson, Ingrid Thulin, Eva Dahlbeck, Bibi Andersson, among many—for baring their souls on screen in Bergman’s challenging, difficult works that always elevated the art of film to breathtaking levels.

Cries and Whispers is an excellent example of the power of the female actor. It’s essentially a four-woman chamber piece, taking place in the late 1800s in Sweden, about three sisters and a servant, their relationships to each other,...