Kvinnors väntan (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:

Waiting 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?

Trivia

Cameo. In Paris. When Marta is about to leave the building where she has seen the gynecologist a tall lean man in a beret enters through the front door, dimly visible only in a mirror. This is man is no one less than Bergman himself.

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Connections

Featured in Stjärnbilder (1995)

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Soundtracks

Dans i de saligas ängder
[from the opera "Orfeo ed Euridice"]
Composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck (1762)
Lyrics written by Raniero de Calzabigi ( 1762)
Swedish lyrics by Göran Rothman (from Italian text,1773)

User Reviews

"Finely tuned character piece..."

Swedish screenwriter, playwright, film producer and director Ingmar Bergman's eleventh feature film which he wrote after an idea by his third wife, journalist Gun Grut, is somewhat based on his own play "Rachel and the Cinema Doorman" from 1946. It premiered in Stockholm and is a Swedish production which was shot at Råsunda, Stockholms Iän film studio and on locations in Stockholm, Sweden, on the Island of Siarö in Sweden and in Paris, France. It was produced by Swedish film producer Allan Ekelund. It tells the story about four women named Marta, Annette, Karin and Rakel who are staying at summer house on a Swedish Island with their children and Marta's 17-year-old sister Maj. During a warm day while they are waiting for their husbands Martin, Fredrik, Paul and Eugen Lobelius who are all brothers and part of a family firm, to return home from a business trip in Copenhagen, the four women begins to share stories about their relationships which makes a profound impression on Marta's sister Maj who is in love with Annette and Paul's 22-year-old son Henrik.

Finely and engagingly directed by Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, this moving fictional tale which narrated from multiple viewpoints, draws an intimate portrayal of three women's marital experiences and how they alter the mind of an amorous young woman. While notable for it's naturalistic and atmospheric milieu depictions, the fine production design by Swedish art director and production designer Nils Svenwall (1918-2005), black-and-white cinematography by cinematographer Gunnar Fischer, costume design by Swedish costume designer Barbro Sörman (1927-2006) and editing by Swedish film editor Oscar Rosander (1901-1971), this dialog-driven, romantic and theatrical comedy-drama with severe undertones depicts several condensed studies of character and contains a good score by Swedish composer Erik Nordgren.

This humorous and atmospheric postwar feature film which revolves around three stories and examines the director's recurring themes of marriage, interpersonal relations and love, is impelled and reinforced by it's voice-over narration, quick-witted-dialog, interrelating stories, subtle character development, fragmented narrative structure and the great acting performances by Swedish actors Gunnar Björnstrand, Jarl Kulle, Birger Malmsten (1920-1991) and Swedish actresses Eva Dahlbeck, Anita Björk and Maj-Britt Nilsson (1924-2006). A finely tuned character piece from the early 1950s.