The bouncing music and rather silly acting inform us that what we are watching is a comedy. If it were not for those two aspects, it would be easy to mistake the film for a plain drama. The reason for this is that there are no jokes or gags as such. Bergman injects into the script a few witty lines, but I can only guess that some humour is meant to blossom from the film having a satirical viewpoint on love. A comedy does not have to be funny for it to be effective, but if it is not funny it makes the comic aspects redundant. The characters are all developed around love and desire, rather than their own character traits, and there are a few others thing that one could complain about, but either way the film nevertheless says a few things about love. As usual Bergman does a great job setting up all the shots. It is interesting stuff on a visual level, with fitting lighting choices and some long pans. And as with just about every Bergman film, it is worth a look. However, it is difficult for me to recommend this awkward comedy as one of his better films, even though it is the film that really brought Bergman into the spotlight.
Review of Smiles of a Summer Night
