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15 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
An under-appreciated film, 25 June 2007
10/10
Author: TheMovieCritic_83 from Australia

It's amazing when a film is disliked and misunderstood when released, and is then praised and labelled as a masterpiece decades later. Ingmar Bergman's 'Sawdust and Tinsel' is one of those films. I'm not exactly sure why the film was regarded so lowly, but thankfully, it is now recognised for what it is.

The film isn't quite Bergman's best, but it is certainly close. 'Sawdust and Tinsel' is a pessimistic, yet truthful study of human nature in relationships. The film's central character, Albert, is a ringmaster of a travelling circus, and is passing through the town where his wife and children are living. The pair have been separated for some time and are clearly dealing with the situation in different ways. His wife Agda has moved on. Albert is still affected and has been unfaithful to his wife, as he is travelling along with his mistress. What unfolds is an interesting character study that looks at human insecurity, disloyalty, selfishness, unhappiness and emotional strain.

It's no wonder that Ingmar Bergman is titled 'The Swedish Master'. 'Sawdust and Tinsel' is full of insight and certainly shows Bergman's talent. He does some excellent things with mirrors in certain shots and creates a lot of mood throughout the film. The highlight is, without question, one of the first scenes in which Frost, the circus clown, comes to collect his wife Alma from the ocean, where she is swimming with an army regiment. Every element works and Alma's selfishness and Frost's pain are clear in the scene, adding to the effect. Practically everything that Bergman has done in this film is excellent. The only point of criticism though, is that the cinematography is a bit hit and miss, as some scenes are too bright, giving them an overexposed look. Then again, it could be that the film has just deteriorated with age.

This is an under-appreciated film that is certainly worth viewing. It is quite hard to come by, but maybe one day, someone will do a proper release on DVD.

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13 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
A dark, disturbing dream, 24 July 2001
Author: Bobs-9 from Chicago, Illinois, USA

It's undoubtedly true, as has been pointed out in a newsgroup review, that the characters in this film are not particularly likable. I have never been able to understand why that should necessarily work against a film's worth or effectiveness, though. Profound darkness seems to me an integral part of Bergman's work, at least the earlier films like this one. If you're looking for action, adventure, or romance, you're certainly barking up the wrong tree here, and the idea of identifying with the characters in this film scares the hell out of me. Maybe it's just not suited to some viewer's personalities.

You're not likely to come across `Sawdust and Tinsel' much these days, unless it's at an art-house, museum or festival screening, or on video. Here in the U.S., Public Television used to show Bergman films in the distant past. That time is long gone, but I can well remember seeing it on TV as a kid, and its imagery lingered in my mind like a vivid nightmare. The black and white cinematography, with wonderful use of darkness and silhouettes, makes it a very beautiful-looking film, but it is unrelentingly dark and gloomy.

Not for everybody, but it is what it is, and Bergman is Bergman. Its dream-like imagery and brutal, primal view of human nature can leave a deep impression, especially on impressionable viewers. This is undoubtedly why having seen it when growing up, I've never forgotten it. Though it doesn't seem to be particularly well-regarded these days, I regard it as great and powerful cinema in the Bergman/Nykvist tradition. At the very least, its cinematography should be well-appreciated by anyone who admires the look of films like `The Virgin Spring, ` or `The Silence.'

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9 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
The Cruelty of Mankind, 20 February 2007
8/10
Author: Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

While traveling in caravan through the country of Sweden, one member of the decadent Alberti Circus tells the owner and ringmaster Albert Johansson (Åke Grönberg) a sad story about the clown Frost (Anders Ek): seven years ago, his wife Alma (Gudrun Brost) was surprised by him bathing naked in a lake with a regiment. When the circus arrives in the town where Albert's wife Agda (Annika Tretow) and sons live, he decides to pay a visit with his young mistress Anne (Harriet Andersson) to a famous local troupe to borrow some capes, hats and vests for their tonight show. They are humiliated by the director Mr. Sjuberg (Gunnar Björnstrand), but he lends the pieces, and the lead actor Frans (Hasse Ekman) gives an unsuccessful pass on Anne. When Albert decides to visit Agda, the jealous Anne meets Frans, who seduces her with an apparently valuable necklace, and they have a love affair. Anne finds that the necklace is actually worthless and returns to the circus. Meanwhile, Agda refuses to accept Albert back and he sees Anne leaving the theater and going to the jewelry. During the exhibition, Albert and Anne are submitted to humiliations by Frans.

"Gycklarnas Afton" is a dark and unpleasant story of the cruelty of mankind, where losers, desperate people without any perspective in life, are humiliated by the cruel human beings, reaching the lowest human condition. The clown Frost and his decadent wife Alma; the aging and tired owner of the circus trying reconciliation with his former wife to have a stable life; the mistress Anne trying to find another man to support her; all of them stuck together in a decadent circus due to the lack of perspective in life and courage of committing suicide. The cinematography in black and white is amazingly beautiful, and the introduction sequence, with the caravan moving in the dawn, is very similar to Brazilian classic "O Cangaceiro" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045595/), of the same year. Harriet Andersson is extremely sexy and gorgeous in the role of Anne. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Noites de Circo" ("Nights of Circus")

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10 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
One of Bergman´s masterpieces, 14 March 2002
9/10
Author: anton-6 from sweden

This is one of his earlier film productions. After have done this it did get bad critic and was no big hit at all in Sweden. But in France for example people who was interested in film saw it. So it helped Bergman to become more famous international. This film is still a masterpiece.

"You live and don´t care about how bad everything can be" is what I would call the message for this film. The opening scene is masterful and it´s a very dark(but what do you expect from Bergman?)film. The lightening and settings are very good and the cinematography is fantastic(The scenes that are filmed inside are filmed by the great Sven Nykvist). The way that the camera moves is fantastic and the way it films in to mirror´s. Also many of the actors and actress are giving their performance of their life. Today this film is a very powerful and disturbing film. I would call it a masterpiece.5/5

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
There is not a wasted frame, 19 March 2008
10/10
Author: christopher-underwood from Greenwich - London

I first, and probably, last saw this wonderful film over 40 years ago. It has not been easy to catch again and then I think that when the time since you have last seen a favourite gets too long you begin to have concerns as to whether it will live up to your memory of it. There was particular concern here because, although in the 60s and 70s I would bore people by going on about this film whenever talk of Bergman's more well thought of films came up, this was never considered to be one of his best. Having just watched it again I am blown away all over again. I cannot believe how much of the fantastic visuals I remembered and the extent to which the power of the film is still so affecting. There is not a wasted frame, this is pure cinema throughout. The acting is stupendous, the cinematography outstanding and the bitter sweet tale so seemingly simple, yet so devastatingly all consuming. I know Bergman has made more poetic films and more profound ones but I still think this one is hard to beat for so eloquently presenting those basic issues that matter to everyone.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
has gained a reputation as a triumph of Bergaman's pre 'Seventh Seal' period; rightfully so, 17 December 2007
10/10
Author: MisterWhiplash from United States

Sawdust and Tinsel- or The Swedish Master, or The Naked Night, take your pick on a title- is about a man who can't stand himself in his profession, but loves it so much at the same time: the low-brow sensibility of it, the wildness, the freedom to cut it loose with drink or with mad gimmicks during a show, and abandon of the rules when confronted with the law. But he also has a love whom he has his problems with, and her with him as well, leading to an infidelity drama that plays out harshly. Ingmar Bergman said this was a personal film for him, in a big sense, because of the connection to the excitement of the profession being played out against personal turmoil and trouble in professional terms (Bergman even said it was easier for a scrawny director to have a "fat actor" play the part of Arthur). It was reviled by critics and a box-office flop- one of the more expensive films, relatively to others, Bergman made up to that point.

It's a film that, seen years later now through the prism of Bergman as one of the world's true artists in the profession, also is deceptively high-brow about the world of low-brow, where experimentation filters in early on and Bergman makes one of his more distinctive marks as a director more-so than a screenwriter (usually, however much Bergman is always an absorbing and challenging director of scenes, writes like no other). The opening scenes, with the story of the sad/pathetic clown Frost (could be a distraction if overdone, but it's an interesting side-not throughout the film as a reminder of true melancholy), are shot like some crazy silent movie, where all we hear are sounds of laughter and little sound effects, brightly lit, shot and composed like some manic tale of desperation and defeat and humiliation, stylized so highly one might think a mad German too control of the reins and made it his own. It's not something all of Bergman's fans will like, but it shows him, even in 1953, trying new things, letting himself be free with the material as he sees fit.

Then, after this, we get into the "typical" Bergmania; a sort of square-block played out between Arthur, who is meeting his ex-wife in the town he's at for the circus performance (the actress playing his wife, I forget her name, is brilliant at displaying just enough pragmatism to show her as the most sane of anyone in the film), and Arthur's current beau Anne is somewhat attracted to a sneaky actor named Frans, who plays a wicked game of arm wrestling and leading to a somewhat Albert and Anne, and how this casts a dark shadow on the rest of the proceedings- including through the circus performance, which becomes a daring act of do by Bergman where he makes things effective once squaring in on the 'duel' between Arthur and Frans. For those that love Bergman doing relationship drama, this is solid, if not exceptional, stuff on display. And the ending, truth be told, might just be one of the most engrossing, and completely bleak (if you could imagine that Bergmanites) that he ever made (who doesn't cry with the scene with the bear?)

It might sound like Bergman has made a depressing little tome on circus life, the sorrows of living with the filth and lice and reckless frivolity of life as vagabond entertainers. But it's also a lot of fun, as the low-brow material displays another side to Bergman, which is something close to weird, comic excess. Sometimes Bergman even mocks his own world; a scene with Albert asking Gunnar Bjornstrand's theater director (the latter always shown in low-angle, a smart choice) makes the theater come off satirically compared to Bergman's more serious treatments of the profession in his films. And, seriously, where else will we get a dwarf tossing in a work by this filmmaker? And meanwhile, he also has a great turn from his would-be Emil Jannings in Åke Grönberg, who is big and over-emotional and strung-out on his excesses of anger and resentment, mostly with himself (watch for that gun!) And Andersson, of course, is ravishing as she was- if not erotically as such- in Monika, filmed the same year.

Now finally available just a bit easier than previously thanks to Criterion, Sawdust and Tinsel is a fine spectacle of a director branching out stylistically (if not to the spectacular Felliniesque aspirations it might have as a pre La Strada or The Clowns), while keeping his feet tethered to his personal cinema. Not quite in my top 10 of Bergman's, but considering how many great films he made it's close.

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Sawdust and Tinsel of the Naked Night, 11 May 2006
7/10
Author: Galina from Virginia, USA

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Ingmar Bergman's "Gycklarnas Afton" aka "Sawdust and Tinsel aka "The Naked Night" (1953) is a sad tale of passion, jealousy, betrayal, and humiliation set in a shabby traveling circus in the beginning of 20Th century in Sweden. When it was originally released in 1953, the movie met the fierce controversy and misunderstanding from both the critics and the viewers. Even now, more than fifty years later, Bergman remembers what one of the critics said about "Sawdust and Tinsel", "I refuse to make an ocular inspection of Mr. Bergman's latest vomit." The master said that he's always liked the film and it was enough for me to try to find and watch it.

The story itself is not original and has been told many times - it concerns the aging circus owner who fell under the spell of his young and breathtakingly sensual mistress Anna (Harriet Anderson - God Almighty and who would not? If ever any woman could change my sexual orientation, it would've been Anderson of "Dreams", "Smiles of a Summer Night", and "Sawdust and Tinsel". Those dark deep eyes - one minute, the big and naive eyes of a little sweet girl, next second - elongated promising eyes of a natural born seductress, enchantress, and a heart breaker. Her lips, long dark hair, and the body of a dancer and a model make her the embodiment of irresistible femininity.

Filled with the images of exquisite elegance, photographed in striking black and white colors, this study of a love triangle - circus manager loses his mistress to an attractive, young but sadistic actor while trying (without a success) to reconcile with his ex-wife - leads to a powerful and devastating climax. The guns put to one's head may not fire at the end of the naked night but the feelings of despair, hopelessness, and humiliation are overwhelming and not easily shaken.

7.5/10

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7 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Dark and Mesmerizing, 9 January 2002
Author: retributionpublications from Brooklyn, NY

This is a fantastic early film made by the master of the psychological, Ingmar Bergman. This film is much easier to understand than say, Persona, Cries and Whispers, or the Seventh Seal, and therefore, I suggest this as a first-time introduction for anyone interested in learning more about his films and/or his filming technique.

This movie is quite simply, a dream. The introduction sequence is a brilliant example of Bergman's work...we see a long shot of 5 horse carriages moving across the plains at dawn, which dissolves into a reflection of a single horse & carriage in the water below a bridge, which dissolves into a series of shots...windmills, foggy paths, the carriage driver and the finally, a fade into the carriage where our protagonist, Albert Johansson, sleeps with his girlfriend Anna. Bergman is the king of the dissolve...a style he no doubt picked up from 1920's German expressionism. Bergman's mise en scene is a blend of sequences which depict a very dreamlike orientation of our immediate surrounding.The result: We are passive observers, watching the all-too-real reality of our modern world subside into something very mysterious and surreal. Bergman's style removes time from the equation of film. Time, as we know it, takes a back-seat to objects, people, and places. Real life becomes more dreamlike than any dream, and the darkest and most mysterious corner of the universe becomes the human mind.

This is a fantastic movie.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Sawdust and Tinsel, 27 March 2008
Author: Michael_Elliott from Louisville, KY

Sawdust and Tinsel (1953)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

A circus troupe arrives in a small town where the owner (Ake Gronberg) plans on visiting his family who he hasn't seen in three years. This sets his mistress (Harriet Andersson) into a jealous fit and she runs to a local theatre group where an actor offers her a priceless necklace in exchange for sex. This here is without question the best of the early Bergman films I've seen and I think it's the first to show the masterful director at full force. Like a lot of Bergman pictures, this film really isn't about anything yet it's about everything to the people involved. The way Bergman could settle on small characters and shine a light on their personal issues has always been one of the director's strong points and he does the story justice here. The film is mainly about jealousy and what it can lead to and Bergman creates a very moody and at times depressing look at the subject. The film is very, very dark and comes off like a bad dream that mixes fantasy with reality. Another strong point is an opening sequence where we hear the story of a clown who loses his mind when he catches his wife swimming naked with some soldiers. This sequence is filmed completely different than the rest of the film and the lightness of this segment really brings you into a different type of movie. The performances are all incredibly strong with Gronberg stealing the show as the circus owner who slowly loses his mind over a matter of hours. The actor goes through a breakdown towards the end of the film and this comes off very realistic and is at times painful to watch. Andersson is her typical brilliant self and really sells the loneliness and confession of her young character. The scene with her and the actor is charged with some dark sexuality, which just shows what a master Bergman was. The cinematography Hilding Bladh and Sven Nykvist is remarkable as is the music score by Karl-Birger Blomdahl.

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Circus Movie of Note, 7 March 2008
8/10
Author: barnesgene from Virginia, U.S.

Thanks to Criterion Collection for making a sparkling fresh print of this film available on DVD. Sven Nykvist's cinematography is seen as excellent as ever, especially those brooding cloudy skies. The story moves along nicely, and Bergman's women are clearly their own people (most of the time anyway). The tawdry lives of circus folk is a film cliché, but the characters do live and breathe in this movie rather more completely than we could have hoped. Special attention should be paid to the music of Swedish Modernist composer Karl-Birger Blomdahl. Those punching dissonant chords at the beginning of the film are not unlike much of his music for the outer-space opera he wrote, "Aniara." There is a recording of that work, but it's hard to come by. But you can try to find his Symphony No. 3, "Facetter", and you'll be delighted by how it grows on you. Nevertheless, Bergman pretty much left Blomdahl behind in his subsequent work, and you can see why: Much of it doesn't really fit, which is something you can say about a lot of famous composers who try their hand at film music.

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