7.5 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
A girl and boy from working-class families in Stockholm run away from home to spend a secluded, romantic summer at the beach. Inevitably, it is not long before the pair are forced to return to reality.
Starring: Harriet Andersson, Lars Ekborg, Dagmar Ebbesen, Åke Fridell, Naemi BrieseForeign | 100% |
Drama | 85% |
Romance | 16% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
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 | 5.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Ingmar Bergman's "Sommaren med Monika" a.k.a. "Summer with Monika" (1953) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include original theatrical trailer; short introduction to the film by director Ingmar Bergman; exclusive new interview with actress Harriet Andersson conducted by Peter Cowie; "Images From the Playground (2009), a documentary film directed by Stig Bjorkman and produced by the World Film Foundation; and a video interview with writer Eric Schaefer. The disc also arrives with an illustrated booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Laura Hubner, a 1958 review by filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard, and a publicity piece from 1953 in which Ingmar Bergman interviews himself. In Swedish, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Heading to the island
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Ingmar Bergman's Summer with Monika arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray disc:
"This new digital transfer was created in 2K resolution on an ARRISCAN film scanner from the original 35mm camera negative. Restoration and color grading were done using the following: Image Systems' Phoenix and Nucoda FilmMaster, Quantel's iQ, Foundry's NUKE, and Autodesk's Flame. Further restoration involved the manual removal of thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter, and flicker using MTI's DRS and Pixel Farm's PFClean, while Image Systems' DVNR was used for small dirt, grain, and noise reduction.
Project supervisor: Peter Bengtsson.
Colorist: Mats Holmberg/Chimney Pot, Stockholm.
Color grading consultant: Nils Melander.
Image restoration supervisor: Mats Forsberg/Marsmotel, Stockholm.
Audio restoration supervisor: Leif Westerlund/Cinepost Studios, Stockholm."
The high-definition transfer is wonderful. Clarity is fantastic while color balance is virtually flawless; the blacks are lush and well saturated but do not look boosted and the grays and whites look notably stable (notice how tight the image looks in screencapture #9). Detail is outstanding, with the panoramic vistas from the island looking particularly strong. Furthermore, there are no traces of problematic lab tinkering. Unsurprisingly, there is a layer of light and well resolved grain throughout the entire film and not even a whiff of edge-enhancement ruining it. The high-definition transfer is also free of banding and aliasing patterns. Since the old R2 Tartan DVD had some obvious stability issues, I specifically would like to point out that there is no edge flicker. Finally, there are no flecks, large damage marks and debris. All in all, this wonderful presentation of Summer with Monika is a prime example of why Criterion are one of the very best distributors releasing classic films on Blu-ray. (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 lossless track is excellent. The dialog is crisp, stable, and free of problematic background hiss. Though not too prominent, Erik Nordgren's soundtrack also boasts good depth (it does not sound 'thin'). Additionally, there are no high-frequency distortions or audio dropouts to report in this review. The English translation is excellent.
Arguably Ingmar Bergman's most straightforward film, Summer with Monika tells a simple story about love, dreams, and disappointment. Amongst the few films directed by the legendary Swedish director that have already appeared on Blu-ray, in my opinion Summer with Monika looks most impressive in high-definition. Viewing it again was a special experience. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Törst
1949
Efter repetitionen
1984
Nära livet
1958
Kris
1946
2003
En lektion i kärlek
1954
Sommarlek
1951
Hamnstad
1948
Till glädje
1950
Riten / The Ritual
1969
En passion
1969
Skepp till Indialand / A Ship Bound for India
1947
Kvinnodröm
1955
Kvinnors väntan / Secrets of Women
1952
Aus dem Leben der Marionetten
1980
Tystnaden
1963
Gycklarnas afton
1953
Nattvardsgästerna
1963
Såsom i en spegel
1961
Skammen
1968