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United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 0 DVD: LANGUAGES: Swedish ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), English ( Subtitles ), SPECIAL FEATURES: Black & White, Filmographies, Interactive Menu, Production Notes, Scene Access, Trailer(s), SYNOPSIS: Several stories by Birgit Tengroth intertwine. In 1946, nervous ballet dancer Rut and her husband Bertil are returning to Sweden from his scholarship tour around Italy. In a Basle hotel room and on a train they quarrel, give food through the window to starving Germans, overhear wisdoms about marriage by Swedish clergymen returning from a conference, and finally make up. In flashbacks, Rut reminisces her romance with middle-aged officer Raoul, her subsequent abortion, and her ballet career. In a seemingly separate episode set in quiet Stockholm during Midsummer, middle-aged widow Viola is harassed first by a psychiatrist, Dr. Rosengren, and then by a lesbian old school-friend Valborg, with tragic consequences. ...Three Strange Loves ( Törst ) ( Thirst )
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Format:DVD
Bergman's first foray into marriage - a long visited topic for him. Moving on from a previously familiar summer holiday romance scenario that ends in pregnancy termination, the story shows how the now sterile ex ballet dancer faces frustrations with her new husband. The married soldier that was the subject of her affair (I presume he was killed in action), leaves a widow who comes to haunt her, in spirit and in body.
For Bergman, we see his first slightly bleached-out ultra close up and face to face shot. The psychiatrist too makes a first appearance as emotional damage is pursued as a topic. There's also quite a bit of flash-backing and a train journey that runs through most of it which is supposed to symbolise both a passage in time but also the empty, barren vessel she now feels herself to be.
The distinctively intelligent dialogue that so appeals to me is sharp and acerbic, probably for the first time. "I only stay alive so I can keep you as miserable as you've always kept me" is typical of Ingmar's angst. Subtleties of depressive subjects such as suicide are shown by someone leaping to their death into water but all we hear is a plover or some-such seabird changing its call.
A little lumpy in its narrative but for those who love Bergman, the gems are starting to shine and we are reassured by the burgeoning qualities of who we now know to be one of the World's greatest ever directors.
For Bergman, we see his first slightly bleached-out ultra close up and face to face shot. The psychiatrist too makes a first appearance as emotional damage is pursued as a topic. There's also quite a bit of flash-backing and a train journey that runs through most of it which is supposed to symbolise both a passage in time but also the empty, barren vessel she now feels herself to be.
The distinctively intelligent dialogue that so appeals to me is sharp and acerbic, probably for the first time. "I only stay alive so I can keep you as miserable as you've always kept me" is typical of Ingmar's angst. Subtleties of depressive subjects such as suicide are shown by someone leaping to their death into water but all we hear is a plover or some-such seabird changing its call.
A little lumpy in its narrative but for those who love Bergman, the gems are starting to shine and we are reassured by the burgeoning qualities of who we now know to be one of the World's greatest ever directors.
Format:DVD
Also known as 'Thirst', its original Swedish title, this early work (1949) by Ingmar Bergman has much to interest viewers familiar with his later, far better known films. Birger Malmsten, who appears in several of his early films, puts in an excellent performance alongside Eva Henning, as the desperately unhappy couple at the centre of the drama. The film is in effect three stories which have been (somewhat poorly) combined together - the screenplay was not Bergman's own - centring around a strained marriage and with a parallel plot featuring the husband's old lover.
There are memorably sour scenes on the unhappy couple's train journey and various encounters which bristle with tension and naturalistic acting and direction. Overall, a week after recently re-watching the film, I find that these encounters and impressions made more of an impact on me than the complicated plot strands. I would however say that 'Three Strange Loves' is most certainly identifiably by Bergman - the emphasis on female characters and experiences, the pared down mise en scene, and the intense emotional level are all present. In some ways, his great future works are almost to be glimpsed in some of the ideas here. Not, therefore, to be missed by anyone exploring Bergman's large body of work.
The Tartan DVD release has a very good sharp print of an admittedly vintage film but minimal extras.
There are memorably sour scenes on the unhappy couple's train journey and various encounters which bristle with tension and naturalistic acting and direction. Overall, a week after recently re-watching the film, I find that these encounters and impressions made more of an impact on me than the complicated plot strands. I would however say that 'Three Strange Loves' is most certainly identifiably by Bergman - the emphasis on female characters and experiences, the pared down mise en scene, and the intense emotional level are all present. In some ways, his great future works are almost to be glimpsed in some of the ideas here. Not, therefore, to be missed by anyone exploring Bergman's large body of work.
The Tartan DVD release has a very good sharp print of an admittedly vintage film but minimal extras.
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MEN VERSUS WOMEN
13 Nov 2007
1949. Seventh movie of the Swedish master. Based on a novel written by Birgit Tengroth who plays Viola in the film. Some strange characters in this opus which focuses on the irreconcilable differences between men and women. The psychiatrist who tries to seduce her patient or the military who assures that men should always live with two women at hand are figures that'll haunt you for days. You can find another DVD edition of this film in the Criterion box set Eclipse Series 1 - Early Bergman (Torment / Crisis / Port of Call / Thirst / To Joy) (Criterion Collection).
Three Strange Loves (aka Thirst)
14 Sep 2007
This film features some of Bergman's "signature" devices, later developed by him to perfection. His trademark psychological soul-digging and studying of human sensuality are heavily imbedded in the film's texture. One can (cautiously) call it a milestone.
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