Bob Taylor The users have been remarkably consistent in their ratings: whether male or female, 18-29 or over 45, they always fall between 7.8 and 8. This must mean that Bergman has made a film that pleases all age groups and genders, a remarkable feat. I found Smiles of a Summer night to be one of his best, looking over his extraordinary 50-odd year career.The story isn't that complicated; it's a bit less involved than Rules of the Game, to which it might be compared. There is a plot between two women to win back the men they care about that is worked out very well. Eva Dahlbeck and Margit Carlqvist play delightfully as they work out the details. (spoiler) Ulla Jacobsson is so much younger than her husband that you know from the first reel that trouble lies ahead. When she finally makes her move, it's with the feeling that the inevitable has finally happened. This picture is funny without provoking belly laughs, in the way that Mozart opera is.

Cosmoeticadotcom Ingmar Bergman's 1955 comedy Smiles Of A Summer Night (Sommarnattens Leende) was the film that first garnered him international recognition. It would be a couple of years before The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries cemented his reputation as an international film auteur, but looking back on this film, over a half a century later, and half a world away, it only shows how differently tastes in humor can be. Compared to today's better film comedies, this film is both more mature and more puerile in its approach to sex, in that it treats its characters as intellectual beings, yet also shows them as somehow reserved. Granted, the film is set in turn of the 20th Century Sweden, yet there is still an element missing in the film, especially when compared to later films in the Bergman canon. That missing element would most likely be depth. Yes, compared to even more 'intellectual' Hollywood comedies of recent vintage, like Sideways, Smiles Of A Summer Night is far deeper, but there is truth to the old Woody Allen claim that drama is 'sitting at the grown ups table'. In fact, Allen was so smitten with this film that he tried to do his own version of it a quarter century later, in A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy. Of course, his own film was one of Allen's lesser works. Yet, so too is this film one of Bergman's lesser works. Stephen Sondheim also based his musical, A Little Night Music, on this film. The camera work, by Bergman's first collaborating cinematographer, Gunnar Fischer, is stellar, especially in the interior scenes, where the whites radiate like novae in comparison to the pitch hues, but the film is at its weakest in the characterizations. No, unlike most modern fiction in film or prose, it is not a failure for its reliance on the trite, but for its simple lack of detail. The viewer is never drawn into the characterizations nor dilemmas of the main protagonists. This is certainly a flaw that dogs most comedies. Even the comedies of William Shakespeare are notably deficient in this area- most especially his appropriately wretched A Midsummer Night's Dream. Yet, even though this is the only real failure of the film, it is enough to make this a rather tepid viewing experience, especially for the refined Bergmaniac.

Michael_Elliott Smiles of a Summer Night (1955) **** (out of 4) Delightful romantic comedy from Ingmar Bergman about various couples whom end up at an estate where love, relationships and sex are the topics. It took about ten minutes for me to warm up to the film but once the action (ala dialogue) got started the film just flew by with plenty of nice laughs as well as some terrific dialogue. The performances by the entire cast were terrific, especially Gunnar Bjornstrand and Ulla Jacobson. It's hard to believe that Woody Allen failed to capture much of this film's humor with his semi-remake A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy.

preppy-3 A rare comedy from director Ingmar Bergman.It takes place at the turn of the century. Fredrik Egerman is an old, cynical man who is married to beautiful, young (20) Anne. She can't have sex with him--she's too afraid. He knows and agrees to be patient. He also has a son from a previous marriage (Henrik) who is attracted to Anne. He's also attracted to the maid Petra. Then there's Desiree, a former mistress of Fredrik who is now sleeping with Malcolm (who's also married) and still attracted to Fredrik. Got all that? They all end up spending a summer weekend at a beautiful house in the woods. Things come to a head.I've always wanted to see this--the title alone is beautiful. I did see it in a revival theatre in the 1980s--I hated it. The print was lousy and edited! During a fairly explicit (for 1955) talk about sex the subtitles disappeared! Just saw it again--unedited and in pretty good shape. While I don't think this is a masterpiece (I'm not a Bergman fan) I did like this.It is funny--but pretty subtle. The relationships are all complicated but you do have them straight by the end. What's really good about this film is how Bergman treats (and shows) his female characters. Except for Anne (but she changes) they're strong, stand up for themselves and find men and their ways amusing--some of Desirre's looks were very funny. Also, in the form of Petra, they want sex and have no problem letting men know. For 1955 audiences this must have been shocking--Petra (almost) bares her breast and the sexual talk between women is very frank.The acting is good by everybody...but the film is lacking in romance. I never believed any of these characters loved each other. Also it's slow-moving but it all ends happily. So I did like it--I give it an 8.Later musicalized by Stephen Sondheim as "A Little Night Music" and disastrously remade (sort of) in Woody Allen's "A Midsummers Night Sex Comedy". Avoid that one at all costs.