Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

Summer Interlude Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 4, 2023

Note: This version of this film is available on Blu-ray as part of Criterion's Ingmar Bergman's Cinema set.

It understandably may be well nigh impossible to choose an "all time greatest filmmaker" of the 20th century, if for no other reason than that personal tastes differ, but I can't imagine any "devoted cineaste" not having Ingmar Bergman at least near the top of their own aggregation. Criterion has been feting some iconic creative forces with expansive box set compendia of films, including Essential Fellini and The Complete Films of Agnès Varda, but in terms of overall offerings and packaging extras, Ingmar Bergman's Cinema may itself be sitting atop a list of finest Blu-ray collection offerings. Some of the films in this impressive collection have in fact had prior releases by Criterion, as should probably be expected, but there are a fair number making their Blu-ray debuts. As tends to be the case with Criterion releases, technical merits are also generally excellent, and the supplements can be very appealing.

Summer Interlude is another film which, somewhat like its disc mate To Joy, plies a ping ponging narrative which reveals the ups and downs of a relationship courtesy of flashbacks and then "current day" repercussions, and which, also like To Joy, features a musical milieu. That "ups and downs" part might be jokingly called somewhat literal in this film, since there's a tragedy involving a rather disastrous fall from a precipice, but the film, while emotionally overwrought as many of Bergman's films are, may arguably have more of a hopeful mien than that other film on this disc which had the temerity to include the word "joy" in its title.

Fans of ballet-centric films like The Red Shoes and perhaps even Black Swan may find Summer Interlude of special interest since its focal character, Marie (Maj-Britt Nilsson), is in fact a world class ballerina who nonetheless (evidently in keeping with this subgenre's frequent formulations) is experiencing some emotional unraveling, especially after she receives a mysterious package containing the diary of what turns out to be a former lover named Henrik (Birger Malmsten). The film then begins to document the history of the relationship between Marie and Henrik, and with just another brief allusion to that aforementioned comment about a disastrous fall, let's just say this is one love affair that doesn't have a "happily ever after" aspect.

This is another rather interesting examination of a female psyche perhaps slightly at war with itself, and if it doesn't have the profundity of some of Bergman's later works, it's still rather striking, and is an especially gorgeous film courtesy of Gunnar Fischer's lustrous cinematography. Summer Interlude is one of several films in the Bergman set which has had a previous standalone release from Criterion, and further plot details can be gleaned from Svet Atanasov's 2012 Summer Interlude Blu-ray review.

Summer Interlude Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Summer Interlude is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Criterion Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.38. Criterion's kind of overwhelming insert book offers nice summations of each film's transfer attributes, and the relevant data points for this film are as follows:

Picture element: 35 mm duplicate negative
Scanner: Scanity
Transfer resolution: 2K
Sound element: 35 mm optical track
Picture and sound restoration: Swedish Film Institute <

A bit more technical information is disclosed on a text card preceding the presentation which states the digital restoration took place in 2017. That would suggest this is a newer transfer than the one Svet reviewed in 2012, though that said, as I've so often stated before, different reviewers means different opinions, and my score is slightly lower than Svet's, though some may in fact prefer the look of this presentation, which is noticeably brighter than the old Criterion release, at least when comparing screenshots where I've tried to come close to duplicating some of the screenshots Svet uploaded to his review. In my estimation that's the single biggest difference here, and this presentation shows some of the very same signs of age related wear and tear, including some pretty long lasting and just plain long scratches or other blemishes like hairs in the gate which can be spotted in some of the screenshots in both reviews. Detail levels are generally quite good, and grain resolves tightly, spiking at expected moments like in optical dissolves.

Summer Interlude Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Summer Interlude features an LPCM Mono track in the original Swedish. This is a nicely robust sounding track that has a lot of the same pluses in its renditions of music that I mentioned in the To Joy Blu-ray review, but this film also derives a good deal of sonic activity from outdoor scenes rife with ambient environmental effects. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Summer Interlude Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Criterion has packaged To Joy and Summer Interlude on one disc, and neither film is afforded any supplementary material.

Summer Interlude Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While the world of Black Swan is probably even more psychologically roiling than in this film, take a look at Maj-Britt Nilsson in the first screenshot I've uploaded to accompany this review and see if you don't think she bears at least a bit of a resemblance to Natalie Portman in Portman's Oscar winning role (it doesn't hurt that both films feature Swan Lake as purported "plot elements"). This is a rather melancholic film in a lot of ways, and there's maybe even just the slightest presaging of sentiments that might be likened to the #metoo movement, but despite some of this provocative content, Summer Interlude is in fact a rather weirdly peaceful and ultimately sanguine depiction of a certain kind of post traumatic stress disorder. Technical merits are generally solid. Recommended.