Summer with Monika (1953) - (The Criterion Collection - #614) [DVD9] [2012]

Inspired by the earthy eroticism of Harriet Andersson, in the first of her many roles for him, Ingmar Bergman had a major international breakthrough with this sensual and ultimately ravaging tale of young love. A girl (Andersson) and boy (Lars Ekborg) from working-class families in Stockholm run away from home to spend a secluded, romantic summer at the beach, far from parents and responsibilities. Inevitably, it is not long before the pair are forced to return to reality. The version initially released in the U.S. was reedited by its distributor into something more salacious, but the original Summer with Monika (Sommaren med Monika), presented here, is a work of stunning maturity and one of Bergman’s most important films.





MOVIE:
DIRECTOR: Ingmar Bergman
COUNTRY: Sweden
YEAR: 1953

Cast & Credits

Cast

Monika Erikson - Harriet Andersson
Harry Lund - Lars Ekborg
Mrs. Lindström, Harry’s aunt - Dagmar Ebbesen
Lelle, Monika’s former boyfriend - John Harryson
Harry’s father - Georg Skarstedt
Forsberg, Harry’s boss - Gösta Ericsson
Ludvig, Monika’s father - Ake Fridell
Monika’s mother - Naemi Briese
Harry’s construction boss - Ake Grönberg
Forsberg’s accountant - Gösta Gustafsson
Johan - Sigge Fürst
Monika’s male coworkers - Gordon Löwenadler, Bengt Eklund, Gustaf Färingborg
Hasse, Monika’s brother - Carl-Uno Larsson
Mrs. Boman, the café owner - Hanny Schedin
Owner of summer home - Ivar Wahlgren
His wife - Renée Björling
His daughter - Catrin Westerlund
Movie stars - Kjell Nordensköld, Margaret Young
Lindevall, the parson - Nils Hultgren
Harry’s friend - Sten Mattsson
Harry’s coworkers - Magnus Kesster, Carl-Axel Elfving
Monika’s boyfriend - Anders Andelius
Monika’s boss - Arthur Fischer
Monika’s date at café - Bengt Brunskog


Credits

Director - Ingmar Bergman
Screenplay - Ingmar Bergman and Per Anders Fogelström (from Fogelström's novel)
Photography - Gunnar Fischer
Production manager - Allan Ekelund
Production design - P. A. Lundgren and Nils Svenwall
Props - Tor Borong
Sound - Sven Hansen
Music - Erik Nordgren
Orchestration - Eskil Eckert-Lundin
“Kärlekens hamn” (Haven of Love) waltz composed by - Filip Olsson
Makeup - Carl M. Lund and Inc.
Editors - Tage Holmberg and Gösta Lewin
Continuity - Birgit Norlindh






DVD:
DVD RELEASE: May 29, 2012
STUDIO: Criterion
CATALOG: 614
SYSTEM: NTSC
SCREEN: 1.37:1
Black & White
AUDIO: Swedish Dolby Digital Mono
SUBTITLES: English
RUNTIME (MOVIE): 97 minutes


EXTRACTION:
ENGINE: DVD Decrypter
DVD: 1 Full Dual-Layer DVD
FILE EXTENSION: Image (.ISO) + MDS file
FILE SIZE: 7.16 GB


Disc Features

New digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
Introduction by director Ingmar Bergman
New interview with actress Harriet Andersson, conducted by film scholar Peter Cowie
New interview with film scholar Eric Schaefer about Kroger Babb and his distribution of Monika, the Story of a Bad Girl! as an exploitation film
Images from the Playground, a half-hour documentary by Stig Björkman featuring behind-the-scenes footage shot by Bergman, archival audio interviews with Bergman, and new interviews with actresses Bibi Andersson and Harriet Andersson
Trailer
New English subtitle translation
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Laura Hubner, a 1958 review by filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard, and a publicity piece from 1953 in which Bergman interviews himself


INFO:

AMAZON
WIKIPEDIA
IMDB
DVD Beaver