7.5 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A trio of couples meet at a country estate for a weekend vacation, but there, under the idyllic summer moonlight, a series of swapping interludes ensues.
Starring: Ulla Jacobsson, Eva Dahlbeck, Harriet Andersson, Margit Carlqvist, Gunnar BjörnstrandForeign | 100% |
Romance | 17% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.36:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Swedish: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Winner of Best Poetic Humor Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Ingmar Bergman's "Sommarnattens leende" a.k.a. "Smiles of a Summer Night" (1955) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include the film's original theatrical trailer; a short introduction to the film by the director; and a video interview with film historian Peter Cowie and writer Jorn Donner. The disc also arrives with a 24-page illustrated booklet. In Swedish, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Dangerous beauties
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.36:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Ingmar Bergman's Smiles of a Summer Night arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray disc:
"This high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from a new 35mm print made from the original camera negative. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter, and flicker were manually removed using MTI's DRS system and Pixel Farm's PFClean system, while Digital Vision's DVNR system was used for small dirt, grain, and noise reduction.
Telecine supervisor: Maria Palazzola.
Telecine colorist: Greg Garvin/Modern Videofilm, Los Angeles."
Aside from a few inherited shaky frame transitions, the high-definition transfer Criterion have used for their Blu-ray release of Smiles of a Summer Night is indeed very pleasing. Fine object detail is consistently strong, especially during close-ups, while contrast levels dramatically improved. Edge-enhancement is not a serious issue of concern, though there is a limited number of scenes where I noticed small traces of it. Also, selected noise corrections have been performed but the integrity of the film has been preserved. Naturally, the film has a slightly dated but certainly very pleasing organic look. Finally, Criterion have carefully removed various scratches, debris, and specks. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).
There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: Swedish LPCM 1.0. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.
The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray disc:
"The monaural soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from a 35mm optical soundtrack print. Clicks, thumps, hiss, and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube's integratd workstation."
Understandably, the Swedish LPCM 1.0 track has a limited dynamic amplitude. The dialog, however, is crisp, clean, stable, and very easy to follow. There are no distortions either. While viewing the film, I also did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, hissings, or sudden audio dropouts to report in this review.
Smiles of a Summer Night, a light sexy comedy, is one of Ingmar Bergman's most important films. It saved his career in Sweden, while its success at the Cannes Film Festival established him as one of the most exciting European directors and gave him the freedom to experiment with more channeling projects. Two years after Smiles of a Summer Night was first screened, Bergman completed his legendary The Seventh Seal. Criterion's presentation of Smiles of a Summer Night is very good. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
För att inte tala om alla dessa kvinnor
1964
2003
Fårödokument
1970
En lektion i kärlek
1954
Fårödokument 1979
1979
Trollflöjten
1975
Kris
1946
Törst
1949
Scener ur ett äktenskap
1973
Riten / The Ritual
1969
Kvinnors väntan / Secrets of Women
1952
Såsom i en spegel
1961
Hamnstad
1948
Till glädje
1950
En passion
1969
Djävulens öga
1960
Efter repetitionen
1984
Sommarlek
1951
Sommaren med Monika
1953
Skepp till Indialand / A Ship Bound for India
1947