June Night

Ingrid Bergman shines in her last Swedish film before leaving for Hollywood. Several of her Swedish films of the 30s were remade in Hollywood, one with Leslie Howard including herself, and you can understand how she became that iconic star of Hollywood of lasting prominence. Here she is an ordinary girl tiring of her humdrum life in a small northern Swedish town, having an adventure with a sailor that ends in disaster, as he in a passionate fit of jealousy trying to shoot himself instead shoots her, missing her heart by an inch. She recovers and starts a new life in Stockholm, which seems to go off well with a changed name, but a sensationalist reporter finds her out while at the same time that sailor comes back hunting her, causing her fresh heart wounds. The character she makes is fascinating, shy and adventurous at the same time, being afraid of people but not able to do without them, and so the crises pile up. It is a charming and underrated pre-Bergman film of immense environmental value, the moods remain idyllic although the action changes to Stockholm, and the use of Beethoven's "An Elise" as musical theme of this romantic love episode is quite felicitous. There are many eloquent details of the film, the actors are all perfect, so there is really nothing wanting in this very intimate and rewarding film.