THE ABC OF CINEMA
Summer with Monika PG
Sweden | 1953 96 minutes
DIRECTED BY
Ingmar Bergman
STARRING
Harriet Andersson|Lars Ekborg|Dagmar Ebbesen
Welcome to 'B' for Bergman in the ABC of Cinema with a screening of the Swedish director's 1953 drama 'Summer With Monika', in which hard-up teens Harry and Monika run away together to spend an idyllic few weeks of summer on an island close to Stockholm.
Unconstrained by Anglo-Saxon sensibilities, the film's Continental credentials were quickly exploited in material promoting its international release. In fact, in the States, it was cut down to about an hour and screened at drive-in cinemas under the title 'Monika - The Story of a Bad Girl'!
There are certainly erotic aspects to the young lovers' developing relationship, particularly in the sense of freedom espoused by Monika; and there's some nudity that could not have been allowed in Hollywood at the time. But the story moves on in a way that could also have been a template for many of the British 'kitchen-sink' dramas that unfolded during the 1960s.
18 March 2024 MONDAY 19:30
Playhouse Main Screen
Tickets £8.00|£5.00 (up to age 25)