Summer with Monika (1953)
Directed by Ingmar Bergman

Film Review

The transience of romantic love and its cruel aftermath are the main themes of this early Bergman, one of the Swedish director's simplest and most accessible films.  Here, in stark contrast to Bergman's later work, we are not subjected to a deep examination of philosophical or psychological issues.  Summer With Monika is a much lighter film, an instinctive rather than an intellectual depiction of human relationships.  This suggests the film is lightweight and shallow, and to some extent it is - certainly when set aside Bergman's greater films - but its directness and naivety works in its favour.  It's a charming film which, despite its simplicity, is effective in engaging our emotions and causing us to reflect on one of life's most profound mysteries, the nature of love.

One of the most appealing things about Summer With Monika is the sheer sensual beauty of its cinematography.  Gunnar Fischer's photography presents the raw natural world around Stockholm as an ethereal paradise of light and shade, with thin mists and diffuse light rolling over the most wondrous landscapes, with undulating waterways glistening with the reflected sunlight and molten sunsets that look like the smile of a benign creator.  Rarely has black and white photography looked more exquisitely beautiful, rapturous and soulful than in this film.   Summer With Monika is as much a travelogue about Sweden as it is a piece of romantic drama.

The film explores two themes which recur in much of Bergman's work.  One is the conflict between the generations - the inevitable rebellion of the young against the tyranny of their forebears.  Bergman himself had a difficult relationship with his father, a severe Lutheran minister, something which could account for the predominance of female characters in his films.  The second is the idea of duality, of opposites being placed side by side, showing us two deeply contrasting views of humanity, the two halves that make up every one of us.

That Monika and Harry are ill-suited polar opposites is evident almost from the beginning.  Monika is adventurous, superficial, slovenly and irresponsible.  Harry is easy-going, caring, industrious and mindful of his duties.  If Monika represents the base carnal side of humanity, Harry is the noble spiritual side.  It's not long before their mutual incompatibility becomes apparent, but by that time the damage has already been done, their lives ruined.  Of course, such clean delineation of character rarely occurs in real life - there is a bit of Harry and Monika in each of us, the good in perpetual conflict with the bad.

The part of Monika was controversial for its time and made the unknown Harriet Andersson an international star.  The famous nude bathing sequence and Monika's seduction of Harry - the most erotic scenes in any Bergman film - were shocking but helped make the film a great commercial success.  Andersson brings something fresh and dangerous to the part of the femme fatale and her portrayal of a rebellious adolescent incapable of mastering her baser impulses is both daringly modern and harrowingly convincing.

The influence of contemporary European directors and earlier film movements on Bergman is evident throughout the film.  There are shades of Italian neo-realism (notably Vittorio De Sica) in the urban landscape at the start of the film, and some obvious references to the French poetic realism of the 1930s (Marcel Carné, René Clair, Jean Renoir, Jean Vigo).  The film itself proved to be hugely influential - its modernity and striking visual style having an impact on the directors of the French New Wave (Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Jacques Rivette) later in the decade.

Film Synopsis

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.  Taking a motorboat and a few provisions, they head for a remote island on the Stockholm archipelago.  The summertime idyll proves to be short lived.  With the onset of autumn, Monika discovers she is pregnant, and the couple are forced to return to Stockholm to face up to their responsibilities...