Customer Reviews

A Lesson in Love [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Movie-goers commonly turn to Bergman for the symbolic, the intense, and the bizarre ("The 7th Seal," "Shame," "Hour of the Wolf," "Persona," and so on), neglecting his less edgy works. This does him an injustice, as he was also masterful--and equally insightful--in lighter fare. "A Lesson in Love" is a sly and thoroughly entertaining romantic comedy somewhat in the nature of his much better-known "Smiles of a Summer Night," a work which I find more artificial and less compelling than "A Lesson in Love." As always with Bergman, the acting is superlative and the dialog rich and well-conceived. Bergman comedies have no intention of being laff riots; but there are wry smiles a-plenty to be had here (keep your eye on the bartender!). My reaction on seeing it for the first time was, "Absolutely delightful!". I think it will be yours, too.

It's a "so-so" comedy. There is a well-shot scene on a canal in Copenhagen, but overall it's nothing special. For completists only.

*** 1954. Written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. A comedy for adults as the introduction says. After 15 years of marriage, Marianne and David Erneman hardly lives together anymore but one day David decides to leave his mistress and to reconquer Marianne. Three major feminine figures gravitate round David -Gunnar Björnstrand- Erneman : his wife played by the sublime Eva Dahlbeck, his daughter played by the juvenile Harriet Andersson and at last his mistress impersonated by the venenous Yvonne Lombard. If this comedy of manners is interesting, it can't be compared with works of the same period like Sawdust and Tinsel - Criterion Collection or Summer Interlude (Sommarlek) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - Great Britain ]. A movie for the curious ones.

A gynecologist is tired of his own philandering and wants a reconcilliation with his wife - only to discover she too is having an affair. He intercepts her on a train on her way to see her lover and, although she resists his attempt at first, later she succumbs.

There are flashbacks by the man and woman to happier times, and some of these are pretty good. The best scene is when he first gets on the train: it's only after about ten minutes with the woman that we realize she is his wife - the surprise is wonderful. Lots of the expected Bergman pessimisms about love are here - "The marriage bed is a death bed of love," boredom is the end-all of everything - which are handled well, certainly better than the staged jealous scene near the end and the "all's well" ending with cupid! On the whole, the picture is lighter in tone than most of Bergman's fare. Worth a watch.

An entertaining comedy about about a middle age doctor who try to win his wife back. One of Bergman's best movies.