Summer with Monika (1953)

A pair of teenagers meet one summer day, start a reckless affair and abandon their families to be with one another.

Director:

Ingmar Bergman

Writer:

Per Anders Fogelström (screenplay)

Stars:

Harriet Andersson, Lars Ekborg, Dagmar Ebbesen

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Harriet Andersson	...	Monika Eriksson
Lars Ekborg	...	Harry Lund
Dagmar Ebbesen	...	Fru Lindström, Harry's faster
Åke Fridell	...	Ludwig Eriksson, Monikas far
Naemi Briese	...	Monikas mor
Åke Grönberg	...	Verkmästaren, Harrys arbetskamrat
Sigge Fürst	...	Johan, lagerbasen på Forsbergs
John Harryson	...	Lelle, Harrys rival
Georg Skarstedt	...	Harrys far
Gösta Ericsson	...	Forsberg, direktör för glas
Gösta Gustafson	...	Forsbergs kamrer
Gösta Prüzelius	...	Försäljare hos Forsbergs
Göthe Grefbo	...	Lagerarbetare hos Fersbergs
Arthur Fischer	...	Chef för grönsakslagret
Torsten Lilliecrona	...	Chaufför på grönsakslagret

Storyline

Harry Lund is a nineteen-year-old man who meets Monika, a romantic, reckless and rebellious seventeen-year-old, and they fall in love. They leave their families and jobs in their small town, Harry gets his father's boat and they spend the summer together in an isolated island. Monika gets pregnant, and Harry decides to marry her. He grows up, gets a job and returns to his studies, trying to improve their lives and raise their daughter June, while Monika just wants to have fun.

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Plot Keywords:

summer | boy | island | 1950s | teenage boy | 

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Taglines:

The Story of A BAD GIRL!

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish

Release Date:

9 February 1953 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Monika

Filming Locations:

Ornö, Stockholms län, Sweden

Box Office

Budget:

SEK 484,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Svensk Filmindustri (SF)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min 62 min (re-edited)

Sound Mix:

Mono (AGA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jerald Intrator was hired by U.S. distributor, Kroger Babb, to shoot a few additional nude inserts and supervise the U.S. dub and re-scoring by Les Baxter.

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Quotes

Verkmästaren, Harrys arbetskamrat: Well? What did you have?
Harry Lund: A girl. Everything went well. Almost seven pounds.
Verkmästaren, Harrys arbetskamrat: Get going now. I don't want any fingers cut off here. Come back in the morning - sober. Go home and put on your best suit and buy her some carnations.
Harry Lund: Red carnations?
Verkmästaren, Harrys arbetskamrat: At your age, buy the green ones.

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Alternate Versions

First US release, marketed for the drive in theater circuit, ran only 62 minutes, was dubbed, and featured a different score by jazz musician Les Baxter.

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Connections

Referenced in The 400 Blows (1959)

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Soundtracks

RAGTIME
Music by Reinhold Svensson

User Reviews

A subtle and beautiful movie

Why should you see this movie? I can think many reasons: Because it has beautiful and perfect scenes, because it was made in the 50's and it's amazingly contemporary, because the characters are extremely interesting... This kind of movies shows us that there's no need to spend 10 million dollars to produce a film... It proves us that a simple story, with a simple production can be more transcendental than a film that cost millions.

The story is simple, but it forces us to think about freedom, love, oppression, decision, and about the things we can or cannot change about ourselves and the others. As a conclusion, I can say that seeing this movie is a worthy experience.