#birger malmsten

[ozu-teapot]

Mai Zetterling and Birger Malmsten in a lobby card for Ingmar Bergman’s Musik i Mörker (Music In Darkness), 1948.

[citizenscreen]

Ingmar Bergman directing Birger Malmsten and Eva Henning in THIRST (1949).

[saintangelic]

Det regnar på vår kärlek (1946) dir. Ingmar Bergman.

[davidhudson]

Birger Malmsten, December 23, 1920 – February 15, 1991.

Ingmar Bergman’s Thirst (1949).

[fourorfivemovements]

Films Watched in 2024: 55. Fängelse/Prison (1949) - Dir. Ingmar Bergman

[byneddiedingo]

Thirst (Ingmar Bergman, 1949)

Cast: Eva Henning, Birger Malmsten, Birgit Tengroth, Hasse Ekman, Bengt Eklund, Gaby Stenberg, Naima Wilfstrand. Screenplay: Herbert Grevenius, based on stories by Birgit Tengroth. Cinematography: Gunnar Fischer. Production design: Nils Svenwall. Film editing: Oscar Rosander. Music: Erik Nordgren.

[blacknarcissus]

Favorite couples

[motionpicturelover]

"Kvinnors väntan" (1952) - Ingmar Bergman

(Eng. title: "Waiting Women"/"Secrets of Women")

Films I've watched in 2024 (5/95)

[brennerrama]

MOVIE QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“There’s too much nudity in this marriage.”

Birger Malmsten in Thirst

#Thirst #Bergman #IngmarBergman #moviequotes

#MovieQuoteOfTheDay

[project1939]

200 Films of 1952

Film number 160: Secrets of Women (Kvinnors Väntan)

Release date: November 3rd, 1952 

Studio: AB Svensk Filmindustri 

Genre: drama 

Director: Ingmar Bergman 

Producer: Allan Ekelund 

Actors: Anit Björk, Eva Dahlbeck, Maj-Britt Nilsson, Birger Malmsten, Gunnar Björnstrand 

Plot summary: Four sisters-in-law wait in a summer house for their husbands to arrive. As they sit around a table, each sister confesses a bit about her relationship with her husband. Everything from infidelity, having a child out of wedlock, and sexy escapades are discussed. 

My rating (out of 5 stars): ****¼  

In my college days Bergman was one of my very favorite filmmakers, and I’ve seen most of his films. As I’ve gotten a little older, I don’t desire to watch such heavy angsty movies as much, so it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen one. Even though it’s not a masterpiece like my favorites Persona, Winter Light, or The Silence, I still enjoyed it quite a bit. It actually wasn’t as heavy as the above films- some parts of it were almost like a romantic comedy! The setup was interesting, and with any Bergman movie, the acting was nearly perfect. (Minor spoilers)

The Good: 

Like many Bergman films, this puts the focus on women- their relationships, their emotions, their trauma... In Hollywood at this time (and even today!) films that are this focused on women are more niche “women’s films,” and they tend to be taken less seriously. I like that Bergman’s are just considered great films in their own right. 

All of the acting was very good. If you are in a Bergman film, you must be comfortable with and adept at closeups, and each actress in this certainly was. 

The aforementioned close-ups! A big part of Bergman’s style was filling the screen with a character’s face. That way we get to see the smallest movements and changes in the eyes. Like Kurosawa in Japan, highlighting non-verbal communication more than spoken language gives us deeper insight into the characters.  

This never spoon-fed the audience information. 

Bergman's films are also much freer to show things Hollywood steered clear of because of the Production Code. Things like infidelity, sex, and pregnancy outside of marriage are all directly addressed, and importantly, characters who commit these behaviors are not required to be punished for them. This film is a perfect example. 

This was a much more sensual film than most Hollywood fare. It’s easily one of the most sensual on my list so far, which has been 160 films! 

I enjoyed the third story between Karin and Fredrik the most. Even though it was the lightest in tone of the three, it was really well acted, engaging, and sexy to boot. 

I love Gunnar Björnstrand! He’s my favorite recurring male actor of Bergman’s. 

I also loved Eva Dahlbeck as Karin. She was a great actress, and the camera loved her. Absolutely stunning. 

I liked the way Maj’s story ended things. She was a teenager about to marry and run off with her boyfriend Henrik. After listening to all of the adult women talk of complications, heartache, and troubles in marriages, she, as a typical youngster, firmly believes that she and Henrik will never be like that. 

The Bad: 

Any time a movie has this kind of multiple story framework, there are some limitations. There just isn’t enough time to fully flesh out each woman’s account of things. This film did an impressive job working within those limitations, but they were there, nonetheless. 

The second story was the longest and the least effective for me. Something about it just didn’t gel in an emotional way. It wasn’t bad, and I still enjoyed watching it, but it was my least favorite. 

Why didn’t we get more of Annette’s story? I would have liked to hear it, despite her insistence that there was nothing to say about her boring and emotionally unfulfilling marriage. 

[rapturousrot]

Summer Interlude (1951) dir. Ingmar Bergman

[cinematicjourney]

Summer Interlude (1951) | dir. Ingmar Bergman

[ozu-teapot]

The Week Starts on Friday (Short) | Elmar Klos | 1962

A little easter egg or crumb of solace for all the people who “followed for the Bergman” and are still here despite everything. This shot of discarded film promo material includes an image of Birger Malmsten and Maj-Britt Nilsson from Bergman’s Summer Interlude.

[60minutesin]

Three Strange Loves (Ingmar Bergman, 1949)

[davidhudson]

Birger Malmsten, December 23, 1920 – February 15, 1991.

Ingmar Bergman’s Thirst (1949).

[fourorfivemovements]

Films Watched in 2024: 22. Skepp till India land/A Ship Bound for India (1947) - Dir. Ingmar Bergman