SUMMER INTERLUDE

FILMS ARE also well known as motion pictures that seem to be revealing a story through their constant motion. One such beautifully directed film that I have lately seen is Ingmar Bergman’s ‘Summer Interlude’. A well directed film that I would love to refer to solely as a motion picture.

Though the film is in Swedish (and I saw it with English subtitles), yet more than the words what captured me was the essence of picturesque quality that can be seen in every frame of the film. From the very first frame to the very last, what you can see is the master eye of the director in nuances of photographic techniques. Every frame portrays an emotion that connects directly to its audience, despite the language barrier.The film and its director belong to a class of ‘world cinema’. This is not the first film that I have seen of this director, I have also seen Bergman’s ‘Wild Strawberries’ before. That too was a very beautiful, emotional touching and moving film, but the experience of that movie lies on its dialogues. Though framing of shots and selection of locations is a point worth noting in that film as well, yet it relies equally on its dialogues and language so as to make its feel reach to the audience. On the other hand, I can well say what attracted me to praise ‘Summer Interlude’ was its beautiful composition style that make the emotions very clear even without any dialogues. It could have been a silent film as well. Moving beyond my ongoing praise for the compositions, there are things also that are worth praising like the story and story telling aspects of this film.

The central story of the film revolves around Marie (Nilsson) a young ballerina, who on a summer vacation meets a college-boy called Henrik (Malmsten) and falls in love. During one of the last days of the relationship, Henrik suffers head and back injuries that result in his death. Years later, Marie reflects on the mistakes she has made in life following Henrik’s death.There is something in the movie that I think almost everyone can relate to. It can either be the idea of dancing and enjoying what we do, or the haunting of the past, or the idea of first love, or how we suffer setbacks in life after we suffer some loss, or how we tend to make walls to protect ourselves from pains and sufferings after the setbacks and fail to realise what we wasted in that time.

These are the few of the central ideas that the story of this film revolves around.But the central theme remains of realisation, realisation that life is always worth living and realisation that one can only find out about ones true identity ‘only when the walls around us crumble’.The director here uses a very beautiful motif, something like a Shakespearean style of grotesque and character of a clown that merge in one here, as the Marie realises that its time for her to let go of her walls, face the truth and embrace what lies ahead. As in the climax of the film, we see that it is only after this that she again finds enjoyment and life in her dance and realises that there is someone, who again truly wishes to love her but whom she so far kept on the periphery of her world only.It’s a beautiful film with love, life, dance, passion and expressions of the actors that pierce you directly and close ups that make you feel sympathy as well as empathy for Marie.
I would say anyone wishing to experience of world cinema should get hold of this film.