Smiles of a Summer Night

(1955) dir Ingmar Bergman w/Ulla Jacobsson, Eva Dahlbeck, Harriet Andersson, Margit Carlqvist, Gunnar Björnstrand [108 min; DCP]

After fifteen films that received mostly local acclaim, the 1955 comedy SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT at last ushered in an international audience for Bergman. In turn-of-the-century Sweden, four men and four women attempt to navigate the laws of attraction. During a weekend in the country, the women collude to force the men’s hands in matters of the heart, exposing their pretensions and insecurities along the way. Chock-full of flirtatious propositions and sharp witticisms, SMILES is one of cinema’s great erotic comedies.