After years of mostly local acclaim, Smiles of a Summer Night built on the breakout success of Summer with Monika, helping to establish Bergman’s name on the world cinema stage. On the surface, it’s a charming comedy of manners about four men and four women who, during a single night at a country house at the end of the 19th century, attempt to navigate the laws of attraction. The enduringly complex plot has inspired both Stephen Sondheim’s musical, A Little Night Music (1973), and Woody Allen’s A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy (1982). Beneath the sparkling dialogue, the illusions and pretensions of the bourgeois characters are sharply exposed.

Notes by David O’Mahony.

This film screens as part of BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL: THE FILMS OF INGMAR BERGMAN.

See the full collection of films on IFI@Home, launching February 1st.