All These Women [För Att Inte Tala Om Alla Dessa Kvinnor] ** (1964, Jarl Kulle, Georg Funkquist, Bibi Andersson, Harriet Andersson, Eva Dahlbeck, Allan Edwall) – Classic Movie Review 4840

Apparently provoked by claims that he was a doom merchant, Ingmar Bergman comes up with this light-hearted and light-weight satirical comedy, and, funnily enough, it isn’t funny.

Bergman’s first film in colour, it tells the tale of a self-important music critic Cornelius (Jarl Kulle) whose work on a master cellist’s biography is both sparked and thwarted by the high-brow female groupies who surround him. When he goes to stay in the cellist’s house for a few days, Cornelius talks to all the beautiful women who live with him, discovering much about the musician’s private life. Then he tries to blackmail the cellist with what he’s found out into performing his own composition.

Lovely sets and robust playing cannot hide the idea that this is a misguided, tentatively handled movie, with a hesitant tone and uncertain sense of humour. It was intended as a satirical swipe at Bergman’s hostile critics, but it played straight into their hands, seemingly proving for ever that he didn’t have a funny  bone.

Made in 1964, and co-written with Erland Josephson, it also stars Bibi Andersson, Harriet Andersson, Georg Funkquist, Eva Dahlbeck, and Allan Edwall, with Karen Kavli, Gertrud Fridh and Mona Malm.

Formerly titled Now About These Women in the UK..

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4840

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