Summer With Monika

Summer With Monika, a 1953 film by Ingmar Bergman (which was one of his favorites) has been given a lovely Criterion release. As with many of Bergman's early films, it follows a usual plot but has undercurrents of rebellious genius.

The story is outwardly simple. Two young people--Harry (Lars Ekborg) and Monika (Harriet Andersson) are in dead-end jobs. They decide to chuck it all and, stealing Harry's father's boat, head to the Stockholm archipelago, on a kind of open-ended vacation. Of course this ill-thought out idyll comes to a less than ideal ending, as Monika gets pregnant, they run out of money and food, and must return to the work-a-day world. They have the baby, and Harry tries to get ahead by going to night school, but Monika, restless, gets bored and depressed.

This film caused a sensation because of its frank attitude about pre-marital sex, and a bit of fleeing nudity by Andersson. It helped give the Swedes a reputation as free-thinking on sexual issues. The film was purchased by an American producer of exploitation films, cut down to 62 minutes, and retitled Monika! Story of a Bad Girl.

But beneath the seemingly simple melodrama there's something else lurking here. I think the film has to do with freedom, and just what that means to different people. Harry and Monika, both under twenty, think they can just go off in a boat and live a magical life, an attitude I think many teens have, but eventually Harry has to grow up, but Monika doesn't. In one scene she tries to steal food from a farm, and is momentarily caught by the family. She appears feral, an animal of sorts.

There's also an odd but interesting scene in which another guy, who is a rival of Harry's, comes across their boat and damages it, setting fire to it. Harry arrives and they have a sort of primitive fight, as if they are fighting over Monika. Later, Harry will arrive home early to find Monika in bed with this same guy.

Bergman had great affection for the film, partly because he and Andersson had a relationship at the time. The camera does love her, and even though she is immature and just a bit crazy, she's the kind of woman that a certain type of guy can't help but fall for. Andersson would make many other films with Bergman, all the way to Cries and Whispers and, finally, Fanny and Alexander.