Bergman - Smiles of A summer night (1955) & Winter Light (1962)

190. Smiles of a Summer Night (1955) Directed by Ingmar Bergman. The COMEDY that made Bergman a international sensation. I enjoyed it, a literate, witty, yet somewhat serious romantic-comedy. I wanted to enjoy it more but Bergman is NOT a comedian and there's a unromantic/serious undertow to this movie. The other problem is subtitles. When so much depends on the dialog it gets tiresome *reading* the witty lines and knowing your missing half the jokes. Imagine seeing "The Importance of Being Earnest" or "His Girl Friday" and speaking only Swedish! Finally, Bergman is great at creating comic characters but the situations aren't as funny as they could be. But that's why he's know as a great drama director - and not the Swedish Mel Brooks. But still pretty good, the acting is superb. Rating ***1/2

191. Winter Light (1962) Directed by Ingmar Bergman. A great film about a Swedish Pastor with almost no parishioners whose doubting his faith. Short film with only half a dozen characters shot simply & beautifully. The screenplay is a thing of beauty in its effectiveness and realism. A great ending. On the other hand, its rather sparse and bleak - full of suicide. physical suffering, and shots of the cold Swedish winter. Also, long sequences of actors speaking into the camera and the characters are all ugly or anti-heroic. But I loved the theology and it kept my interest from start to finish. This is the type of Bergman film that Diane Keaton assigns to the Academy of the Overrated. in "Manhattan" Rating ****