There is not a world in which I would have guessed that Ingmar Bergman was the right guy to direct a comedy, but Smiles of a Summer Night implies he has a level of flexibility as an artist that I never anticipated. This is a fun film with a playful tone which explores the complicated nature of love and relationships. I didn't laugh out loud, but the many miscommunications and various elements of deception that we see play out in the film were plenty to keep a smile on my face. There are elements in this story that don't seem like the type of thing that would typically appeal to me, including the May-December romance at the heart of it all, but they use that as a plot point so it kind of works.
I liked all the acting performances in Smiles of a Summer Night, and two of them I thought were truly great. Gunnar Björnstrand was excellent at riding that line between pompous and likable. And Eva Dahlbeck was simply marvelous as the smartest person in the room who is orchestrating everyone in order to get what she wants. Admittedly, I didn't love the whole film. There were a few subplots that didn't click for me, and I don't know if all the coupling up that we see at the end makes a ton of sense, but for this kind of comedy I was willing to accept it. Even when I wasn't a fan of things that happened in the film, I still maintained interest and was able to chuckle along with the story. I think it's fair to say this is my favorite Bergman film, and the one I'd be most likely to watch again.
I liked all the acting performances in Smiles of a Summer Night, and two of them I thought were truly great. Gunnar Björnstrand was excellent at riding that line between pompous and likable. And Eva Dahlbeck was simply marvelous as the smartest person in the room who is orchestrating everyone in order to get what she wants. Admittedly, I didn't love the whole film. There were a few subplots that didn't click for me, and I don't know if all the coupling up that we see at the end makes a ton of sense, but for this kind of comedy I was willing to accept it. Even when I wasn't a fan of things that happened in the film, I still maintained interest and was able to chuckle along with the story. I think it's fair to say this is my favorite Bergman film, and the one I'd be most likely to watch again.