Summer with Monika

Sommaren med Monika
Harriet Andersson in Summer with Monika
Directed by	Ingmar Bergman
Produced by	Allan Ekelund
Written by	Ingmar Bergman Per Anders Fogelström (book)
Starring	Harriet Andersson Lars Ekborg
Music by	Erik Nordgren Les Baxter
Release date(s)	1953
Running time	96 min
Country	Sweden
Language	Swedish

Summer with Monika (Swedish: Sommaren med Monika) is a 1953 Swedish film directed by Ingmar Bergman. It sparked controversy abroad for its frank depiction of nudity, and along with the film One Summer of Happiness from the year before, directed by Arne Mattsson, it started the reputation of Sweden as a sexually liberated place. (This and other films lead to the concept of “Swedish sin” in then Puritan Christian nations like the United States.)

The film made a star of its lead actress, Harriet Andersson. Bergman had been intimately involved with Andersson at the time and conceived the film as a vehicle for her. The two of them would go on to make several other films together, even after their romantic relationship had ended, most notably Sawdust and Tinsel (1953), Smiles of a Summer Night (1955), and Through a Glass Darkly (1961).

Plot

Two small promotional flyers for the American presentation of the film.

The film's story begins in the bleak working class milieu of Stockholm. Harry (Lars Ekborg) and Monika (Harriet Andersson) are both in dead end jobs when they meet. Harry is easygoing, while Monika is adventurous, but they fall in love. When Monika gets in trouble at home, Harry steals his father's boat, and he and Monika spend an idyllic summer in the Stockholm archipelago. When the end of the summer forces them to return home, it is clear that Monika is pregnant. Harry does the right thing, accepting responsibility and settling down with Monika and their child. He gets a real job and studies to provide for his family. Monika, however, is unsatisfied with her role as homemaker. She yearns for excitement and adventure, a desire which finally leads her astray. Harry is left behind with the child.

Cast

• Harriet Andersson - Monika
• Lars Ekborg - Harry
• Dagmar Ebbesen - Harry's aunt
• Åke Fridell - Monika's father
• Naemi Briese - Monika's mother
• Åke Grönberg - Harry's friend at work
• Sigge Fürst - Porcelain warehouse worker
• John Harryson - Lelle

Release

Exploitation film presenter Kroger Babb purchased the American rights to the film in 1956. To increase excitement for the film, he edited it down to sixty-two minutes and emphasized the film's nudity. Renaming the film Monika, the Story of a Bad Girl, he provided a good deal of suggestive promotional material, including postcards featuring the nude Andersson.

External links

• Summer with Monika at the Internet Movie Database

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