Waiting Women (1952)

The four wives of four brothers share stories of their marriages as they each wait for their husbands in a small, secluded cottage.

Director:

Ingmar Bergman

Writers:

Ingmar Bergman, Gun Grut (story)

Stars:

Anita Björk, Eva Dahlbeck, Maj-Britt Nilsson

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Anita Björk	...	Rakel
Eva Dahlbeck	...	Karin
Maj-Britt Nilsson	...	Marta
Birger Malmsten	...	Martin Lobelius
Gunnar Björnstrand	...	Fredrik Lobelius
Karl-Arne Holmsten	...	Eugen Lobelius
Jarl Kulle	...	Kaj
Aino Taube	...	Annette (as Aino Taube-Henrikson)
Håkan Westergren	...	Paul Lobelius
Gerd Andersson	...	Maj
Björn Bjelfvenstam	...	Henrik Lobelius (as Björn Bjelvenstam)

Storyline

Rakel, Marta, Karin and Annette are married to four brothers. While waiting in a summer cottage for their husbands to come home, they tell each other stories about their marriages. Rakel tells about the time she had an affair and confronted her husband with it. Marta's story is about how she at first refused to marry and had her child by herself. Karin tells about what happened when one time she and her husband got stuck in an elevator together. While the women tell their stories, Marta's younger sister Maj is planning to elope.

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Plot Keywords:

unfaithfulness | flashback | episodic structure | unhappiness | sister in law | 

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Taglines:

The love affairs of three women - marital...premarital...and one marvelous surprise!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish French

Release Date:

11 July 1961 (USA)

Also Known As:

Secrets of Women

Filming Locations:

Sacré-Coeur, Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Svensk Filmindustri (SF)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Stjärnbilder (1995)

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Soundtracks

Reinholds rike
Composed by Reinhold Svensson

User Reviews

An artist emerges

Early Bergman, and from the onset it is clear an artist is at work. The first conversation piece, with all 5 waiting women in the same room, is a long shot approaching 4 minutes, with various of the women talking. There are also already some typical Bergman postures, with one woman talking intensely and the one next to her staring vapidly past her downwards, seemingly lost in her own inner world. All that in well and good, but as soon as I heard the first monotonous monologue from the mother, her eyes turning to heaven, speaking of how she can not reach out to her husband", not even to scratch his eyes out, my Bergman-radar immediately hit the red zone. And surely enough, we are in for group therapy all the way, as each woman tells of one significant episode from their lives with their husbands. But it is a very elegant movie, and along the way you become quite sympathetic, even though all the stories describe infidelity and frigid bourgeous lives. My eye was caught by Eva Dahlbeck, who I also recently saw in Sommarnöje sökes. Here, at 32, she is sizzlingly hot. Overall it is a movie not to be missed by Bergman lovers, if mainly for historical reasons. His next movie was Monika, so this one can be said to commence his golden period. For the trivia-consumers: IMDb informs that Eva Dahlbeck has recently filed for divorce, after, ahem, 67 years of marriage. You go, girl!