#georg funkquist

Sommarlek (Summer Interlude) | Ingmar Bergman | 1951

Films I've watched in 2022 (120/210)

By his own admission, not the best of Bergman's films. I mean, it's not bad, Bergman was too good of an artist to make actually bad films, but not the best. I will say, however, that it is definitely worth watching for Georg Funkquist's performance alone.

I think my biggest problem with this film is that it to a large extent hinges on Birger Malmsten's status as a handsome leading man to have the audience root for/like/have sympathy with him, and in turn be invested in his relationship with Maj-Britt Nilsson's Marie. In reality, though, he's just a young, insecure, bitchy little pup who's simply not that interesting, which ultimately leads to indifference to, even slight dislike for, him.

An example of this is when the film at one stage makes a point of setting Birger Malmsten's Henrik up as the young and handsome counterpart - the obvious choice for Marie - to Georg Funkquist's older "Uncle" Erland, but I can't help but sit there thinking "Faced with the choice between those two, who in their right mind would go for Birger Malmsten over Georg Funkquist??".

Summer Interlude

Sommarlek (Summer Interlude) | Ingmar Bergman | 1951