Rating: 
Summary: Not there yet....but miles away from everybody else
Review: Smiles of a Summer Night it's not one of my Top 10 Bergmans,but it's a fine example of 50's European cinema.Bergman said : "a mixture of operetta and comedy".Pauline Keal said : "One of the few classics of carnal comedy." Woody Allen said :"Even Smiles of a Summer Night, which some consider his 'comic masterpiece', is a very charming film, it has a warmth to it.." Enough said.
Rating: 
Summary: Bergman Gives Us Lots To
Review: The first time I saw "Smiles of a Summer Night" I thought is was an OK film, nothing more, nothing less. I was use to seeing the powerful, bleak, gritty dramas such as "Shame", "The Seventh Seal", "Wild Strawberries", and "A Passion of Anna". "Smiles" was entertaining, but not memorable. It just didn't have the lasting power those other films had. I have now seen the film again. And while maybe it is true this movie does not have the lasting power Bergman's other films have, that does not mean you shouldn't see it. "Smiles of a Summer Night" is actually pretty funny, and I don't just mean by Bergman's standards. It succeeds on its own as a comedy-of-manners. The only other Bergman comedy I have seen is his vastly underrated "The Devil's Eye". Between the two I prefer "Eye", but "Smiles" still has its own charm. Fredrik Egerman (Gunnar Bjornstrand) is married to Anne (Ulla Jacobson) and is having an affair with actress and former fling Desiree Armfeldt (Eva Dahlbeck). Too bad for Fredrik, Anne finds out. But Desiree is also seeing another man, Carl Magnus (Jarl Kulle) who is also married to one of Anne's friends, Charlotte (Margit Carlqvist), who also knows about he husband's "past time". Soon all of these people get together to spend a weekend in the country as Desiree throws a party in an attempt to win back Fredrik. This all sounds very usually for Bergman, but, as I said he is able to pull it off. Many may find the story-line resembles Woody Allen's "A Midsummer's Night Sex Comedy", and that's because this is what that movie was based on. Though I prefer Bergman's film to Allen's. Did you ever think Ingmar Bergman would make a better comedy than Woody Allen? I know it sounds odd, but wait untill you see this film. Bottom-line: One of director Ingmar Bergman's funniest films. Surpringly filled with quirky moments and likeable performances from some Bergman regulars, "Smiles of a Summer Night" is worth watching.
Rating:
Summary: A rating of 5 and then some.*******
Review: This film is perfect -- comedy, drama, you name it. Performances are all tight and Bergman weaves a marvelous tale of how people make fools of themselves at almost all times. They deceive each other and themselves, only wasting large portions of their lives in the process. He is always teaching us a lesson, and I like that in a film. Comic moments abound, however, and the result is uplifting, honest and very real. The film is touted as his only comedy, however, I would not categorize the film this way. There are deeply felt moments not to be ignored by the viewer. I have seen the film several times and I am very excited that it is now available on DVD. I recommend it highly and I hope that you enjoy it. It is a more than worthy film that satisfies on high ground. It is adult and insightful. Please, do not let this one pass you by if you are at all serious about filmmaking and Bergman's considerable contribution. Let's be grateful for his vast upus.
Rating:
Summary: another great ingmar Bergman film.
Review: This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.
"Smiles of a Summer Night" known in Sweden as "Sommarnattens leende" is one of Bergman's early films and one of the more well known ones.
The film takes place in Sweden around the turn of the century, and is about 8 people and their aristocratic life.
The film was of Bergman's first films to be internationally recognized and remains popular to this day. I particularly enjoyed several scenes and enjoyed the scenery around the end of the film.
The DVD has some fine special features also.
There is the original theatrical trailer, an introduction to the film presented by Ingmar Bergman at a miniture theater he owns on the Swedish island of Fårö, and a conversation between Peter Cowie and Jörn Donner.
This film is a must for Bergman fans.
Rating:
Summary: Send In The Clowns
Review: This was director Ingmar Bergman's break-through film, the winner of the 1956 Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, the first of his many internationally acclaimed films. The story is a time honored one, referrencing the same tradition of romantic complications found in Shakespeare's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM and Rostand's LA RONDE: every one is either in love with or married to the wrong person. A famous actress with two very different lovers invites both, their wives, and the son of one lover to her mother's country estate in the hope of sorting out the romantic entanglements to her satisfaction--and the result is considerable charm and unexpectedly dry wit. All the performances are excellent, with Eva Dahlbeck's Desiree a standout, but the real star of this ensemble piece is the unexpectedly witty script. Never quite veering over into broad farce but never sinking into romantic sentimentality, it is a very precisely written tale, and both cast and director make the most of it. In the face of Bergman's later work, SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT may seem rather slight, and indeed both psychology and cinematography is considerably less complex than one expects. Even so, it is very much a Bergman film: the visual style is distinct, and the themes of appearances vs. reality, the inability to correctly interpret another's behavior, and the failure to understand one's self are very much in evidence--only here to comic effect. It is in every way a charming film that Bergman fans will enjoy. Incidently, SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT was successfully translated to the stage as the musical A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, the score of which includes the famous "Send In The Clowns." Fans of the original film will be interested to compare the two works.
Rating: 
Summary: Bergman gives us the usual beating.
Review: To paraphrase Oscar Wilde about Henry James, Bergman directs films as if it were a painful duty. I can't think of a single filmmaker who is more critically acclaimed -- or enjoyed less. If you feel you have to watch this because people insist it's a "classic," then be my guest. I prefer to get my lessons in filmmaking from people who can both educate AND entertain, like Hitchcock or Welles.
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