Amazon.com Essentials:
This early film by Ingmar Bergman, made before his international hits
Smiles of a Summer Night and The Seventh Seal, was vilified
by critics when it first came out (one referring to it as "a piece of
vomit"), but with time has earned a reputation as one of the master
filmmaker's first important works. Sawdust and Tinsel touches on many of
Bergman's standard themes--vanishing love, godless existences, the
redemptive power of theater--in its telling of a disillusioned circus
owner (Åke Grönberg) and his young mistress (Harriet Andersson of
Bergman's
Through a Glass Darkly) as they set up for yet another performance
in a small town. Both contemplate leaving the circus and each other, as
Grönberg pays a visit to his now-independent wife (an exceptional Annika
Tretow), and Andersson allows herself to be seduced by a local actor (Hasse
Ekman), only to find herself used and humiliated. One can see traces of the
melancholy Smiles of a Summer Night in the romantic roundelays that
start out bright and end up bitter--the constructs may be farcical at
times, but the emotions are raw and heartfelt. And stylistically, from the first
frame the film evokes strong similarities to The Seventh Seal; in
fact, this film marks the first collaboration of Bergman and his legendary
cinematographer Sven Nykvist. Despite some awkward dialogue and a static
pace, Sawdust and Tinsel shows a young, assured Bergman finding his
way to the themes and techniques that would define his later films. A
must-see for Bergman aficionados. --Mark Englehart
