Monika
Directed by: Ingmar Bergman
Friday, August 14 - Sunday, August 16, 2009
The impulsive Monika (Harriet Andersson, in her first of nine Bergman films) and the unsophisticated Harry (Lars Ekborg) flee dead-end jobs in dreary Stockholm for a carnal island summer. But as fall approaches, so do pregnancy and hunger, and the young lovers are forced to return to the real world and its disappointments. Luridly retitled Monika: The Story of a Bad Girl for release on the US exploitation circuit (”Naughty and nineteen! The Devil controls her by radar!” flyers blared), Bergman’s early masterpiece was ignored by the Times and other respectable papers. But championed by French critics, MONIKA became deeply influential for the New Wave and helped cement Bergman’s status as one of cinema’s true visionaries. Aka Summer with Monika.
Part of the series “Summer Breaks,” playing weekends at 11:00am, July 12-September 27 in our ongoing Weekend Classics program.
NR, 96 MinutesJanus Films, Sweden, 1953
