Secrets of Women (1952)

Synopsis: SECRETS OF WOMEN is an entertaining episodic work composed of three segments, the third of which represents Bergman's first attempt at comedy. Three women (all sisters-in-law) talk about their... SECRETS OF WOMEN is an entertaining episodic work composed of three segments, the third of which represents Bergman's first attempt at comedy. Three women (all sisters-in-law) talk about their marital problems while waiting for their husbands at a summer cottage. The first story concerns Rakel (Anita Björk) and an adulterous episode that changed her marriage forever. In the next, intensely visual segment, featuring only limited dialogue, Marta (Maj-Britt Nilsson) tells of her difficult relationship with an artist (her future husband) in Paris. In the acclaimed final piece, which Bergman himself considered quite innovative and daring and was inspired by the cinematic style of Alfred Hitchcock, Karin and her husband, Fredrik (Eva Dahlbeck and Gunnar Björnstrand), find themselves stuck together in an elevator and consequently end up making some surprising discoveries about each other's personalities. The three women's stories inspire Karin's younger sister Maj (Gerd Andersson) to elope with the man she loves. Several racy moments in this movie are typical of the filmmaker's depiction of human sexuality in his more mature work (which was still ahead) and foreshadow elements of Bergman's first real comedy feature, the erotic farce A LESSON IN LOVE. [More]

Starring: Anita Bjork, Karl Arne Homsten, Gunnar Bjornstrand

Starring: Anita Bjork, Karl Arne Homsten, Gunnar Bjornstrand

Director: Ingmar Bergman

Director: Ingmar Bergman

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