A Lesson in Love [En Lektion i Kärlek] *** (1954, Eva Dahlbeck, Gunnar Björnstrand, Harriet Andersson, Yvonne Lombard) – Classic Movie Review 10,393

The 1954 Swedish black and white romantic comedy drama A Lesson in Love [En Lektion i Kärlek] is written and directed by Ingmar Bergman.

Bergman probes marital boredom and the unsatisfactory solution of adultery in this clever comic tale of a philandering gynaecologist David Erneman (Gunnar Björnstrand), who has had an affair with a patient, and his long-suffering wife, Marianne (Eva Dahlbeck), involved with her former lover Carl-Adam (Åke Grönberg), the best friend of David. The couple have grown apart after 15 years of marriage, but they have a chance for a reconciliation.

Plenty of energetic hair-pulling and plate-smashing coupled with many moments of keen observation make this an amusing, if hardly quite vintage, work from the great director.

The practised performances from Bergman’s stock company of actors help to keep it firmly and safely on the rails, though as writer Bergman keeps it fairly fascinating.

Also in the cast are Harriet Andersson, Yvonne Lombard, Åke Grönberg, Olof Winnerstrand, Birgitte Reiner, John Elfstom, Renée Bjorling, Dagmar Ebbesen and Sigge Fürst.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,393

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