Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Sawdust and Tinsel Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 21, 2018

Ingmar Bergman's "Sawdust and Tinsel" (1953) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an archival film introduction by the director and audio commentary by film scholar Peter Cowie. The release also arrives with an illustrated booklet featuring an appreciation by filmmaker Catherine Breillat and technical credits. In Swedish, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Intrigued

Note: Sawdust and Tinsel will be included in Criterion's upcoming Ingmar Bergman's Cinema thirty-disc box set, which will be available for purchase on November 20. This individual release will arrive on the market a month later, on December 18, but will have the same content.

The text that is included below was initially used for our review of Artificial Eye's first Blu-ray release of Sawdust and Tinsel, which was part of the label's Classic Bergman Collection that was produced in 2012.

***

Aging and grumpy circus owner Albert Johansson (Ake Grönberg) arrives with his troupe in a small town somewhere in the Swedish countryside. Many years ago, this was the place where Albert fell in love with a beautiful woman (Annika Tretow) and started a family with her. Then he left her with their children, hurt and penniless.

Now Albert has Anne (Harriet Andersson), a beautiful and much younger than him actress who still believes that the best is yet to come. Anne is seriously concerned that Albert is planning to visit his wife, and warns him that if he does she would walk away from him.

Despite Anne’s warning, however, Albert sees his wife. They talk about the past, the present and how their lives have changed since they parted ways. Tired of the circus, life on the road and his mistress, Albert asks his wife if she would be willing to take him back and let him watch their children grow. The answer is negative because she has moved on and rebuilt her life with a different man.

Meanwhile, the angry Anne meets Frans (Hasse Eckman), a suave local actor who convinces her that if she makes love to him he will be willing to help her with her career.

From the five films included in this collection, Sawdust and Tinsel is the darkest and most pessimistic one. Portions of it remind of Federico Fellini’s films, but here the bizarre and surreal that make the Italian master's films so fascinating to behold are simply missing. Bergman’s characters are real people with real dilemmas living in world without miracles.

The discussions in the film are focused on love and happiness, but both are missing from the lives of the main characters. Albert has come to realize that his life would have been a lot simpler and more satisfying had he stayed with his wife, which is why when they meet he begs her to take him back. But he does not love her; he simply wants the comfort and stability of her life. Anne lives with Albert but also does not love him. She needs someone to balance her life. And as soon as this balance is disrupted, she becomes an easy prey for the lecherous actor Frans.

The cast is spectacular, with Grönberg in particular looking very impressive as the aging ring master. Andersson, who would appear in a number of Bergman’s best films, is also terrific as the naïve and brittle young actress.

Sawdust and Tinsel was the first film the great Swedish cinematographer Sven Nykvist lensed for Bergman.

Sawdust and Tinsel Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.38:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Ingmar Bergman's Sawdust and Tinsel arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the leaflet that is provided with this Blu-ray release:

"This new digital transfer was created in 2K resolution on a Scanity film scanner from the 35mm original camera negative. The original monaural soundtrack was remastered from a 35mm optical soundtrack print. Clicks, thumps, hiss, hum, and crackle were manually removed using Pro Tools HD and iZotope RX.

Picture restoration: Swedish Film Institute, Stockholm.
Sound restoration: Criterion Post, New York."

The very first high-definition release of Sawdust and Tinsel that we reviewed on the site was included in British label Artificial Eye's Classic Bergman Collection box set, which arrived on the market in 2012. Unfortunately, the technical presentation that the film received was the most problematic in the box set, which is why I rushed to see how this upcoming release will look. Fans of the film will be happy to hear that there is a pretty dramatic difference between the two because the new release effectively eliminates the elevated sharpness that made the previous presentation look quite harsh. The improvements are visible throughout the entire film, but on a large screen during well-lit close-ups the difference becomes quite striking. So, the electronic noise/sharpening effects are completely gone and as a result the visuals have a very solid organic appearance (see the difference in screencaptures #13 and 16). Furthermore, the grading supports different nuances. Blacks and grays are better balanced and some crushing that is visible on the previous release is avoided. Image stability is excellent. There are no distracting age-related imperfections to report. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you need to have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Sawdust and Tinsel Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Swedish LPCM 1.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

It would appear that some additional cleanup work was done because the audio is very healthy now and background hiss is not an issue. Balance is good as well, but overall the the dialog and the music can be a bit thin at times. However, my guess is that this is simply an native limitation, and that the current track reproduces it with a range of other organic fluctuations.

Sawdust and Tinsel Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Introduction - presented here is a vintage introduction to Sawdust and Tinsel, which Ingmar Bergman recorded for journalist Marie Nyrerod in 2003. In Swedish, with optional English subtitles. (4 min, 1080i).

• Commentary - this archival audio commentary was recorded by film scholar and author Peter Cowie for Criterion's 2007 DVD release of Sawdust and Tinsel.
  
  1. Background
  2. Themes
  3. Close-ups/Strindberg
  4. Nineteen fifth-three/The passing of the torch
  5. Team spirit/Harriet Andersson
  6. Performer and audience
  7. Hasse Ekman/Jealousy
  8. Bergman and the authorities
  9. Writing Sawdust and Tinsel
  10. Marriage and Bergman
  11. Actors and rehearsal
  12. One-on-one scenes
  13. Variety
  14. A business transaction
  15. No religion
  16. Strindberg/Nykvist
  17. Frost and Albert
  18. Symbols/The bear
  19. Clashes and humiliation
  20. Parallels
  21. Reception and reputation

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring an appreciation by filmmaker Catherine Breillat and technical credits.

Sawdust and Tinsel Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sawdust and Tinsel was not always considered one of Ingmar Bergman's best films. Many moons ago, it was actually dismissed with some of the most unhinged and vile reviews that you would find in archives that catalog 'professional' film criticism. (The one vintage review that Peter Cowie quotes toward the end of his audio commentary truly is the creation of a lunatic). So when you eventually sit down to view this release, take a few moments to ponder just how fortunate we all are that Bergman ignored the loud 'voices of reason' and they failed to reshape his genius. Sawdust and Tinsel will be part of Criterion's massive Ingmar Bergman's Cinema thirty-disc box set, but this individual release will also be available for purchase at the end of the year. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.