Cinema - Swedish films

Swedish cinema: Romance

A Lesson in Love (1954)

Ingmar Bergman

David, a gynaecologist, has been married to Marianne for 15 years. When she discovers that her husband has been sleeping with one of his patients, Marianne begins an affair with a close family friend. Realising that he must save his marriage, David hurries to catch the train by which his wife intends to elope... [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...]

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...]

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...]

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...]

Smiles of a Summer Night (1955)

Ingmar Bergman

Fredrik Egerman, a successful lawyer, has married Anne, a woman much younger than himself, and has yet to consummate the marriage. Unbeknown to Fredrik, his son by an earlier marriage, Henrik, is madly in love with both Anne and the household maid Petra, which is hard because he’s destined for the priesthood... [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...]

Three Strange Loves (1949)

Ingmar Bergman

In a hotel room, Rut looks back on her life whilst her husband Bertil sleeps. She recalls the time she had with Raoul, a young officer. It was a happy romance, until she discovered he had a wife and learnt she was pregnant. After an abortion which left her sterile and ended her career as a dancer, Rut married Bertil, an impoverished art historian... [More...]

To Joy (1950)

Ingmar Bergman

Stig Eriksson is a violist in a Swedish orchestra company. During a rehearsal, he is informed that his wife Marta has just died in a domestic accident. Grief-stricken, Stig looks back on his life over the past ten years, recalling his first meeting with Marta, their marriage and the painful separation that ensued..... [More...]

Waiting Women (1952)

Ingmar Bergman

Whilst waiting for their husbands to join them at their holiday home, four sisters-in-law swap stories about their lukewarm marriages. Rakel recalls how her husband threatened to shoot himself when he learnt she had been amusing herself with another man. Marta remembers the idyllic time she spent in Paris, where she fell in love with an artist, who later left her without realising she was pregnant... [More...]

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