{"product_id":"smiles-of-a-summer-night-dvd","title":"SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT - DVD","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIngmar Bergman's romantic comedy of manners focuses on a group of couples, ex-couples and would-be couples during a midsummer weekend in 1900. During the course of the weekend a game of love ensues between the players as three couples meet, separate and exchange partners.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe film which established its Swedish writer\/director on the stage of world cinema, 1956's \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eSmiles of a Summer Night\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is what some people would consider a contradiction in terms--an Ingmar Bergman comedy. Set in the 19th century, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eSmiles\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e features Bergman stalwart Gunner Bjornstrand as Fredrik, a lawyer yet to consummate his marriage to his young wife Anne. He has hankerings after a former mistress, the voluptuous actress Desiree, who is now mistress to the bellicose Count Malcolm, whose own wife attempts to seduce Fredrik in order to make Malcolm jealous. Fredrik's wife, meanwhile, hankers after her own stepson, an austere young man confused by his repressed sexual longings. This web of romantic intrigue is eventually disentangled at a weekend party held by Desiree's mother, a formidably acerbic, fairy godmother-style figure.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eSmiles of a Summer Night\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is sparkling but mordant, stronger on absurdism than belly laughs and it is lent shade by the long shadows of existential angst. It conveys all of Bergman's core messages about human relationships but in a light, operatic bundle of cinematic joy.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eOn the DVD:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Presented in the original academy ratio, the film is restored here to its original, silvery glory. There are extensive notes from Bergman's memoirs, in which he talks candidly about the near-suicidal depression he was in when he wrote this ironically light script, as well as additional notes from critic Derek Malcolm, who aptly compares the film to a Mozart opera and Jean Renoir's \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Rules of the Game\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. --\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eDavid Stubbs\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"TARTAN PALISADES","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46799761506478,"sku":"TVD3344","price":8.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0583\/4614\/3918\/files\/SMILESOFASUMMER1-LIME-LIGHT.jpg?v=1755771908","url":"https:\/\/limelightcollection.co.uk\/en-eu\/products\/smiles-of-a-summer-night-dvd","provider":"Limelight Collection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}