Summer with Monika Blu-ray Harriet Andersson

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Monika" or "Monika, the Story of a Bad Girl" or "Summer with Monika")

Sweden 1953

Inspired by the earthy eroticism of Harriet Andersson, in the first of her many roles for him, Ingmar Bergman had a major international breakthrough with this sensual and ultimately ravaging tale of young love. A girl (Andersson) and boy (Lars Ekborg) from working-class families in Stockholm run away from home to spend a secluded, romantic summer at the beach, far from parents and responsibilities. Inevitably, it is not long before the pair are forced to return to reality. The version initially released in the U.S. was reedited by its distributor into something more salacious, but the original Summer with Monika (Sommaren med Monika), presented here, is a work of stunning maturity and one of Bergman’s most important films.

***

A tender yet unsentimental account of a love affair that turns sour. Harriet Andersson gives a precociously assured performance as a wild, feckless girl from Stockholm's poorer quarter who falls in love with a 19-year-old youth. During an idyllic motor-boat holiday among the islands of the Stockholm archipelago, the girl becomes pregnant and the couple, forced to marry, set up home in a tiny, cramped flat. Very soon, love gives way to distrust and hostility, and they agree to part. Bergman's sympathetic eye and Gunnar Fischer's atmospheric photography invest the locations with a poetic significance, the light and open spaces of the holiday islands contrasted tellingly with the dark claustrophobia of the city, where the flame of the couple's love is slowly extinguished by the lack of air.

Excerpt from Nigel Floyd's comments HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: Sweden 9 February 1953

The Criterion Blu-ray of Summer With Monika appears to be the exact same transfer as in their Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema 100th Anniversary 30 Blu-ray Boxset (reviewed, as a work in-progress, HERE)

Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Tartan - Region 0 - PAL vs. SF (Svensk Filmindustri) - Region 2 - PAL vs. Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Per-Olof Strandberg for the DVD Screen Caps!

1) Tartan - Region 0 - PAL - LEFT

2) SF (Svensk Filmindustri) - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE

3) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - RIGHT

Box Covers
Distribution	Tartan Region 0 - PAL	SF (Svensk Filmindustri) Region 2 - PAL	Criterion Collection - Spine # 614 Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:31:48 (4% PAL speedup)	1:31:54 (4% PAL speedup)	1:38:00.416
Video	1:1.33 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1:1.33 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.64 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1.33:1 - 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 45,277,142,839 bytes Feature: 28,707,545,088 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.97 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Tartan	NOT AVAILABLE
Bitrate: SF (Svensk Filmindustri)
Bitrate: Blu-ray
Audio	Swedish (Dolby Digital 2.0)	Swedish (Dolby Digital 2.0)	LPCM Audio Swedish 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit
Subtitles	English, None	Finnish, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and None NO ENGLISH SUBTITLES	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Tartan Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen - 1:1.33 Edition Details: • Philip Strick Film Notes • Ingmar Bergman collection • Filmography • Stills Gallery DVD Release Date: October 28, 2002 Keep Case Chapters 16	Release Information: Studio: SF (Svensk Filmindustri) Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen - 1:1.33 Edition Details: • Introduction by Ingmar Bergman (16:9 / 4:18) DVD Release Date: 2005-05-10 Keep Case Chapters 16	Release Information: Studio: Criterion Collection 1.33:1 - 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 45,277,142,839 bytes Feature: 28,707,545,088 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.97 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Introduction by director Ingmar Bergman (4:08) • New interview with actress Harriet Andersson, conducted by film critic Peter Cowie (24:55) • New interview with film scholar Eric Schaefer about Kroger Babb and Babb’s distribution of Monika: Story of a Bad Girl as an exploitation film (12:59) • Images from the Playground, a half-hour documentary by Stig Björkman with behind-the-scenes footage shot by Bergman, archival audio interviews with Bergman, and new interviews with actresses Bibi Andersson and Harriet Andersson (29:55) • Trailer (1:54) • PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Laura Hubner, a 1958 review by filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard, and a publicity piece from 1953 in which Bergman interviews himself Blu-ray Release Date: May 8th, 2012 Transparent Blu-ray case Chapters 20

Comments

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

The Criterion Blu-ray of Summer With Monika appears to be the exact same transfer as in their Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema 100th Anniversary 30 Blu-ray Boxset (reviewed, as a work in-progress, HERE). The feature's file-size is exactly the same at 28,707,545,088 bytes and we can see no differences in video quality, audio or extras and only a negligible alternation of the menus (see below).

NOTE: Yes, as has been leaked, we can now confirm that this Blu-ray set is Region FREE! (except this title which is Region 'A'-locked!)

***

ADDITION Criterion Blu-ray - May 2012: I'd say this is a significant improvement in the contrast. Criterion's dual-layered transfer, with very high bitrate, bests the DVDs is every category - from more textured grain to less artefacts, shadow detail and there is some depth exported. It looks very impressive - quite a beautiful presentation.

Audio goes lossless and original Swedish monaural via a linear PCM track and is without major flaws. There are optional English subtitles on the region 'A' - Blu-ray disc.

Criterion include a lot of supplements. The 'Introduction' by director Ingmar Bergman consists of 4-minutes from the interview conducted by Marie Nyerod for SVT Svensk Television in the summer of 2003. Bergman talks about his great affection for Summer With Monika, its production, and his relationship at the time with actress Harriet Anderssen. Also included is a new 25-minute interview with actress Harriet Anderssen, conducted by film critic Peter Cowie - it was recorded exclusively for Criterion and they discuss Summer With Monika. Entitled 'Monika Exploited' this 13-minute piece shows how, in 1955, producer showman and distributor Kroger Babb bought the American rights to Summer With Monika, cut it down to just over an hour, added an English DUB track and a jazz score and distributed the film as 'Monika: The Story of a Bad Girl'. In the interview with Eric Shaefer, author of "Bold!, Daring!, Shocking!, True!: A History of Exploitation Films, 1919-1959" he explains how director Bergman's films became the grist for the exploitation mill. Images from the Playground, is a half-hour documentary by Stig Björkman with behind-the-scenes footage shot by Bergman, archival audio interviews with Bergman, and new interviews with actresses Bibi Andersson and Harriet Andersson. It runs 1/2 hour. There is also an HD trailer and the package contains a booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Laura Hubner, a 1958 review by filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard, and a publicity piece from 1953 in which Bergman interviews himself.

Magnificent and powerful Bergman film - ripe for purchase in this outstanding Blu-ray edition. Our highest recommendation.

***

ON THE DVDs: Both the negative (white) and copy (black) scratches are identical, I presume that both transfer are made from the same source material, but in different DVD laboratories. The difference is marginal. The Tartan is a little bit darker, and the SF shows more film-grain.

Overall the DVD's are oddly grey in many places, but without comparing it to an existing film copy it's hard to say the reason. Is the picture brightened from a film-copy to better adjust to the home screen, with the conclusion that we get occasionally more a Grey & White, than a Black & White picture!

On the extras, the SF has a brief introduction by Ingmar Bergman.

If some North American distributor picks this film up, it's should be nice the see, even tough it's probably far from Bergman's intentions, the first US release: An English Dubbed 62 minutes "drive-in" version "Monika, the Story of a Bad Girl" with a jazzy score from Lex Baxter.

NOTE The Swedish DVD doesn't have English subtitles.

- Per-Olof Strandberg

Menus
(Tartan - Region 0 - PAL - LEFT vs. SF (Svensk Filmindustri) - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)