Crisis ("Kris," 1946) Directed by Ingmar Bergman, Produced by Harald Molander and Victor Sjöström

[DIShGo]

I just watched "Crisis" (1946), a Swedish film directed by Bergman. It was his feature directing debut, and he also wrote the screenplay.

I enjoyed the film, and I felt like the subject matter translated well to today.

Maybe it is because I grew up in a small, sleepy town and desperately wanted to get out of it, but I related to the main character. The story, while not earthshaking, held my interest. After we watch the rest of his films, I would like to go back and compare them to this one and note his growth as a director. I am sure this film will pale in comparison to the others we watch. For a first effort by a man in this twenties, however, I think this film is solid. It is not great, but it is good and shows the promise of its young director.

[DonRocks]

I'm afraid you and I will be slogging though a few more films before we "truly get to Bergman's FIRST films - one where he directed from his own, entirely original screenplay. This Bergman Filmology should make that pretty clear: The 1949 film, "Prison" is his first on all fronts; until then, we have six more that are "partial Bergmans" - that's somewhat frustrating, but I suspect it will be educational, and the films are just fine in their own right.

I, too, liked Kris, although it wasn't as visceral to me as it was to you. Is there anything that stood out about it in your own mind? For me, it's the level of depravity of life in the Big City - enough to make any small-town girl wish to flee, especially from the somewhat nerdy lady's-man Stig Olin who would have a tough time making it in Hollywood.