About

'Smiles of a Summer Night' explores the frightening insight that it is possible for two people to love each other even when they find it impossible to live together. It also contains a bit of nostalgia, looking back at my own life and my relationship with my daughter, full of great confusion and sorrow. - Ingmar Bergman

Given his later reputation as a master of austere religious dramas, it may be surprising for many to find that Ingmar Bergman's breakthrough film was an erotic comedy about mismatched lovers set in turn-of-the-century Sweden. Yet it was the critical and commercial triumph of Smiles of a Summer Night that would finally garner Bergman true international acclaim.

His film is a comedy of errors, filled with adultery and biting witticisms. It finds a collection of friends, lovers and enemies who must correct their wayward affections over a weekend at a country manor. Full of warmth and nostalgia, the film's lavish period dressings betray the film's enormous budget – rumoured to be the largest ever for a Swedish film at the time.

PG | Mild themes, Mild sexual references