Hamnstad (1948)

Director:

Ingmar Bergman

Writers:

Ingmar Bergman (writer)
Olle Länsberg (novel)

Release Date:

1 August 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A suicidal factory girl out of reformatory school, anxious to escape her overbearing mother, falls in love with a sailor who can't forgive her past.

Plot Keywords:

Mother | Husband Wife Relationship | Sexual Jealousy | Rage | Father Daughter Relationship

Cast

Nine-Christine Jönsson	...	Berit
Bengt Eklund	...	Gösta
Mimi Nelson	...	Gertrud
Berta Hall	...	Berit's Mother
Birgitta Valberg	...	Mrs. Vilander
Sif Ruud	...	Mrs. Krona
Britta Billsten	...	Prostitute
Harry Ahlin	...	Skåningen
Nils Hallberg	...	Gustav
Sven-Eric Gamble	...	Eken
Yngve Nordwall	...	The Supervisor
Nils Dahlgren	...	Gertrud's Father
Hans Strååt	...	Mr. Vilander
Erik Hell	...	Berit's Father
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Edvard Danielsson	...	Man (scenes deleted)
Carl Deurell	...	Vicar (scenes deleted)
Kolbjörn Knudsen	...	Sailor (scenes deleted)
Gunnar Nielsen	...	Gentleman (scenes deleted)
Georg Skarstedt	...	Gentleman (scenes deleted)
Siv Thulin	...	Girl (scenes deleted)

Also Known As:

Harbour City (International: English title)
Port of Call (USA)
Ville portuaire (Belgium: French title) (France) [fr]
Città portuale (Italy) [it]
Die Hafenstadt (Germany) [de]
Havenstad (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]
Havnebyens fristelser (Denmark) [da]
Miasto portowe (Poland) [pl]
Porto (Brazil) [pt]
Puerto (Argentina) [es]
Satamakaupunki (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

100 min | Germany:99 min | UK:94 min

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | Argentina:16 | UK:X

Filming Locations:

Gothenburg, Västra Götalands län, Sweden

Company:

Svensk Filmindustri (SF)

Trivia:

The book which Gösta reads on his bed is 'Resor utan mål' ('Journeys Without Destination') by Swedish author and future Nobel laureate in Literature (1974) Harry Martinson. Martinson was, indeed, a sailor before becoming an author, and the book, published in 1932 as Martinson's first prose volume (his greatest fame would come for his poetry), was a document of his own experiences as one, written at twenty-eight after he had given up the sea due to a combination of lack of employment and a bout of tuberculosis. A sailor like Gösta would indeed have found much interest in the book, as it dealt realistically with the life of a sailor from his country living a life very similar to his own. The book itself has sadly never been published in English, but Martinson's second novel, 'Kap Farväl!', somewhat similar to 'Resor utan mål', was translated as 'Cape Farewell'. Director Ingmar Bergman was indeed an admirer of his countryman Martinson and, in 1964, he staged the premiere of Martinson's play 'Tre knivar från Wei' ('Three Knives From Wei'), although, unfortunately, he considered the production an unmitigated disaster.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Killing Floor (2007)

My brief review of the film

An early film from Ingmar Bergman, it is just as interesting on a visual scope as his films usually are, with the docklands filmed well and good use of panning and dolly work throughout. In terms of story and acting though, this is rather ordinary stuff, despite some interesting ideas and philosophies about freedom. It seems the easy way to out to just classify this film as interesting but not up to the standard that Bergman would later set, however I cannot think of much else to say here. It certainly is not as thought-provoking and intense as some of his later films, and for those not interested in Bergman or clever camera movement, I could easily imagine this piece coming across as boring.