En Lektion i Kärlek (A Lesson in Love) (1954)

It fits in well with Bergman's battle of the sexes opus, though a minor work.

Made with Bergman's usual flair for striking visuals and intelligent characterisation, this is rewarding dissection of middle-aged love that manages to be incisive, compassionate and hopeful.

I suppose the right category for this movie would be romantic-comedy, but it's done so well by Ingmar Bergman and has so many nice touches, that it seems to be more than that. The premise is that after a gynecologist strays and has an affair with a young patient, his wife to go back to her old lover, and he wants her back. Eva Dahlbeck is great as the wife, and delivers empowering lines like "A woman wants to feel she's a woman - not a wife", and "A man can be immoral and he's only a 'he-man', but a woman who satisfies her instincts is a strumpet." Yvonne Lombard is very sexy as his mistress, and Andersson, who starred the previous year in the title role of 'Summer with Monika' as well as a bombshell in 'Sawdust and Tinsel', displays great range in playing his tomboy daughter who wants an operation to become a man so that she's not "dependent on a man". Gunnar Björnstrand is the gynecologist, and reminded me of Edward Norton, while Åke Grönberg plays their boisterous old friend who she goes back to. The story is cleverly told out of sequence in flashbacks, including Bergman taking his time in the middle of the movie to reveal to us that the woman he's met in a train car is actually his wife. The movie is light and has great dialogue, but at the same time has the touches characteristic of Bergman, and asks some deeper questions. Is 'the marital bed is the death of love', as the man says? Is to 'wallow in physical love to be like baboons', and do affairs burn out, eventually, into boredom? And lastly, as the teenage daughter talks to her grandfather in a nice scene, does God exist, and what does it mean to die? This movie has it all - a beautiful and talented cast, effortless direction, and a great script. Definitely recommended.

Considering it's Bergman, it's a touch disappointing. Sometimes when Bergman tacks a lighter tone the films shine, an example being 'Smiles of a Summer Night'. 'A Lesson In Love' doesn't, though it's charming enough, with the usual great Bergman performances from the likes of Gunnar Bjornstrand, Eva Dahlbeck and Harriet Andersson. An above average film, but a below great Bergman.