Cinema - Swedish films - Drama

Swedish cinema: Drama (Page 1 of 2)

After the Rehearsal (1984)

Ingmar Bergman

On a stage set after a rehearsal of Strindberg’s A Dream Play, ageing theatre director Henrik Volger is reflecting on his life and his art. His peace is disturbed by the unwelcome return of Anna, a young actress who finds herself drawn to the cantankerous old director. Henrik is reminded of Anna’s mother, who was also an actress as well as his mistress, before alcoholism destroyed her career and her life..... [More...]

Autumn Sonata (1978)

Ingmar Bergman

After a period of separation, Eva invites her mother, Charlotte, a world class pianist, to spend a few days with her and her husband Victor, a parish priest. The joy of the reunion is short-lived, however. The rift begins when Charlotte discovers that her other daughter Helena is in the house. Years before, when Helena fell ill, Charlotte had her put into a nursing home... [More...]

Cries and Whispers (1972)

Ingmar Bergman

In the bedroom of a large country house in the 19th Century, a young woman, Agnes, is enduring the last excruciating days of a terminal cancer. She is tended by her faithful servant, Anna, and her two elder sisters, Karin and Maria. Agnes’s physical ordeal prompts her sisters to reflect on the misery in their own lives and allows them to make an unexpected reconciliation..... [More...]

Crisis (1946)

Ingmar Bergman

18-year old Nelly lives an idyllic life with her adopted mother Ingeborg in a small provincial town. One fateful day, her real mother, Jenny, appears, with the intention of taking her back to Stockholm. At the town ball, Nelly succumbs to the charms of Jenny’s erstwhile lover, Jack, who is a much more exciting proposition than her current suitor, Ulf... [More...]

Hour of the Wolf (1968)

Ingmar Bergman

A painter, Johan Borg, and his young wife Alma move into a small cottage on a remote island. Some time after their idyllic first weeks on the island, Alma notices a change in her husband. He is disturbed by strange visions and insists that the couple stay awake during the night. Curious to know the cause of Johan’s breakdown, Alma reads his secret diary and discovers that he had a passionate affair with another woman, Veronica Vogler, some years previously... [More...]

Music in Darkness (1948)

Ingmar Bergman

Whilst attempting to rescue a puppy, Bengt, a young army cadet, gets himself shot on a rifle range. Awaking from a coma, he discovers that he is blind. Rejected by his fiancée, he finds comfort in the friendship of a peasant girl, Ingrid. Bengt’s hopes for a career as a musician are shattered when he fails to enter the Royal Music Academy... [More...]

The Passion of Anna (1969)

Ingmar Bergman

After the break-up of his marriage, Andreas Winkelman takes to a life of solitude on a bleak Scandinavian island. His neighbours are Elis, an architect, and wife Eva, who are taking care of Anna, a woman who recently lost her husband and son in a terrible car accident. Eva confides in Andreas that her marriage is a sham – Elis is only interested in his work and his hobby as an amateur photographer... [More...]

Persona (1966)

Ingmar Bergman

Whilst performing a stage play, a well-known actress Elisabeth Vogler loses the power of speech. There follows a mental breakdown throughout which she is bed-ridden and unable, or unwilling, to speak. Her doctor sends her to a house by the sea, to be cared for by a young nurse, Alma. The latter becomes fascinated by her silent patient and reveals intimate secrets about her own past... [More...]

The Phantom Carriage (1921)

Victor Sjöström

As she lies on her deathbed one New Year’s eve, salvation army worker Edit insists that a man named David Holm be brought to her. The previous year, David, an ill-humoured down-and-out, fell on her charity, but Edit’s intervention in his life had a far from happy outcome. Unaware of Edit’s interest in him, David is drinking with his friends, preparing to toast the new year... [More...]

Port of Call (1948)

Ingmar Bergman

Shortly after landing at the port of Gothenburg, a merchant seaman named Gösta prevents a young woman from drowning herself. Some days later, he meets the same girl, Berit, at a dance and they become friends. Afterwards, Berit invites Gösta back home, but regrets doing so the next day when her domineering mother finds out... [More...]

Prison (1949)

Ingmar Bergman

A film director is visited by his erstwhile mathematics teacher, who offers him an idea for a film: life on Earth is Hell, governed not by God, but by the Devil. The director discusses the idea with a writer, Tomas, who finds himself living out the scenario a few months later. Depressed, Tomas invites his wife to join him in a suicide pact; when she walks out on him, he hooks up with a young prostitute, Birgitta, who has just run away from her pimp boyfriend soon after the latter killed her newborn baby... [More...]

The Rite (1969)

Ingmar Bergman

Three members of a theatrical troupe are brought before a judge, charged with committing some unspecified act of obscenity. Hans, the troupe leader, is the most mature and restrained of the three actors. Thea is his wife, a neurotic who is having an affair with the third member of the group, Sebastian... [More...]

Saraband (2003)

Ingmar Bergman

Some thirty years after their divorce, Marianne decides to pay a visit to her former husband, Johan, who lives alone in his country house. The reunion is soured by the on-going feud between Johan and his son Henrik. After the death of his wife Anna, Henrik lives with his daughter Karin, who shows great promise as a cellist... [More...]

Sawdust and Tinsel (1953)

Ingmar Bergman

A travelling circus that has obviously seen better days arrives at a provincial town, but the weary performers are gloomy about the reception they will receive. Manager and ringmaster Albert Johansson takes his mistress Anne to see the owner of the town’s theatre, hoping to borrow some costumes to replace their worn out garments... [More...]

Scenes from a Marriage (1973)

Ingmar Bergman

Johan and Marianne have what seems to be the perfect marriage. They have been together for ten years, have two children, and have settled into a life of domestic bliss. Then, suddenly, Johan announces that he is going to leave Marianne for another woman. After a period apart, husband and wife come together to prepare for their divorce... [More...]

The Seventh Seal (1957)

Ingmar Bergman

In the mid-fourteenth century, Europe is being ravaged by the Black Death. On his way home from the Crusades, a knight, Antonius Block, is visited by Death, in the form of an old man in a black cowl. Block is in no hurry to die and challenges Death to a game of chess. If the knight wins, he will be allowed to go on living; if he loses, Death will claim another victim... [More...]

Shame (1968)

Ingmar Bergman

Jan and Eva are two former concert musicians who have retired to a sparsely populated island where they live a peaceful, uneventful life working on a remote farm. Their isolation from the outside world keeps them in ignorance of an impending war – which suddenly arrives on their door step, instantly upending their lives... [More...]

The Silence (1963)

Ingmar Bergman

Whilst travelling by train in a foreign country, a young woman named Ester suddenly falls ill. With her companions – sister Anna and young nephew Johan – she stops at a hotel. Whilst Esther is bed-ridden, Anna goes out to explore the town and indulge her carnal appetites, leaving Johan to roam about the hotel... [More...]

Summer Interlude (1951)

Ingmar Bergman

Marie is a leading ballerina with a ballet company in Stockholm. One day, she receives a mysterious parcel – an old diary written by Henrik, her first love. After a frosty exchange with her present boyfriend, she gets on a boat and heads for the archipelago where she spent her happiest summer, more than ten years before... [More...]

Summer with Monika (1953)

Ingmar Bergman

Monika, 17, works as a grocer’s assistant in the centre of Stockholm. One day, she meets Harry, a young warehouse employee who is a few years her senior. They fall immediately in love. After a row with her brutal father, Monika pleads with Harry to let her stay with him in his apartment. Harry is anxious about what his aunt may think, and instead suggests that they go away for the summer... [More...]

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