Crisis (1946) - Ingmar Bergman

avatar

It is a love story. Not the conventional kind of a love story but a love story nonetheless. Here no Prince Charming or Knight in shining armor swept the feet off of a Princess or a Fair Maiden. It's not a new age romance either. Rather it is a well known form of love; the love between a mother and her daughter. Where there's love, crisis follows; and not always love prevails. The story of Crisis (1946) you may think that you have seen happening a lot, but that is today and it's an old movie. The ups and downs all the characters have faced may seem too unvarying or perhaps you'll find that there's nothing new about it but isn't it all the same about the fairy tales?


unnamed.jpg
Image Source

Crisis (1946) - Ingmar Bergman

Ingmar Bergman isn't a "run of the mill" of a director and producer; if you don't agree then watch any of his other movies and you'll find yourself agreeing with that statement. He has always managed to create something that doesn't look like a film but a visual tale. Crisis was his directorial debut and he also wrote the screenplay based on the Danish radio play Moderhjertet by Leck Fischer. I'm not skipping about the actors; that part will be included too but later.

I have thought of changing my writing style to a certain point; I'll only reveal plot to a bare minimum. I've decided to focus more on the characters played by the actors; the ones who had a major impact on the movie.


20210502_034153.jpg
Image Source

Image Source
Image Source

As I said before, this is a film about a mother and a daughter, the two major characters here are Ingeborg and her daughter Nelly. The movie is set in a quiet little town where our mother-daughter lives. Dagny Lind played the role of Ingeborg and Nelly was played by Inga Landgré. Nelly is a beautiful and charming 18 years old girl who dreams of more than just a provincial life; the dream of big cities and life filled with wealth. Nelly is aware that Ingeborg isn't her biological mother but they love each other unconditionally. Ingeborg's life revolves around her daughter; Nelly means the world to her and she'll do anything for her. But their lives soon take a drastic turn when Nelly's biological mother arrives. Jenny (Marianne Löfgren) has given her only daughter to Ingeborg to raise her so that she can pursue her dreams. Although she got involved with a few men in the past and earned her living by no honest means, now she owns a beauty salon in the city and earns quite enough to provide a good life to Nelly. Yes, three major characters are women. There's also Ulf (Allan Bohlin) who loves Nelly dearly and wants to marry her but she isn't sure about her feelings towards him; the reason behind it is probably because she doesn't want the mundane life a small town offers. And then there's Jack who was introduced as Jenny's nephew but their relationship isn't all that it seems to be; he is a complex character who's unsure of where his life is headed. The glory of a big city and all it's promises are meaningless to him and he'd rather stay in a broken down almost collapsed building looking at the moon all alone rather then losing himself in a lavish crowd where he brings the hype wherever he goes. Even though Jack initiated but both he and Nelly find themselves drawn to each other and surely enough that brought immense trouble to Ulf. As you see, the film is not at all as simple as it sounded in the beginning.


Image Source

It's been almost a month since I watched this film and I admit I'm rather late to give a review. There are quite a few twists and turns in this film and every character was put through hell of a struggle; yes, struggle. There are perhaps other films that have more complex elements in them but what makes this movie separated from them is the fact that it doesn't have any outrageous elements to it; this could happen to any family such as Ingeborg and Nelly's. Mutti (mother) as lovingly as Nelly called Ingeborg, she couldn't give that title to Jenny who is her biological mother; in Jenny's behavior it was apparent that she wasn't looking forward to being one. Each of the characters that I have mentioned has gone through their own set of turmoils in their lives before the movie and throughout the movie; patience is the key here. All the relationships tested, some were torn and others were healed in time.

A regular story but it's more than meets the eye.


surrealfia.gif



0
0
0.000
11 comments
avatar

That does sound like a very complex story! And maybe even a bit taboo for the time period, but I could be wrong. I can't say for sure if I've seen any films by Bergman, so I now need to look into it and add a few #films to my bucket. Thanks for the informative review, @surrealfia! :)

0
0
0.000
avatar

at that time period it is a complex story... you should watch it.. and if you are going to start with Ingmar Bergman then my suggestion is only that you keep Persona (1966) as the last of your watchlist

0
0
0.000
avatar

Okay, will do (on both counts). Thanks for the tip! :)

0
0
0.000
avatar

It reminded me of the old days
We were watching this wonderful movie, me and my brothers
I call it the good time movies

0
0
0.000
avatar

ahh good old days... now I sit and watch movies on my own... can't complain though

0
0
0.000
avatar

Wow, you got me interested for sure. Thanks for writing about this movie. I must watch it. Relationships are complex even if it does not appear so on the front.

0
0
0.000
avatar

it's like there's no escape from complexity... the relationships that seems easiest to carry on, has it's twists... and just some relationships that are too strong to get torn by any difficulty

0
0
0.000