Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Smiles of a Summer Night


Frid: Do you see little one? The summer night is smiling.

Petra: So you’re a poet too.

Frid: The summer night has three smiles. This is the first between midnight and dawn, when young lovers open their hearts and loins. Look there! On the horizon there is a smile so soft you have to be very quiet and watchful to see it at all.

Petra: Young lovers.

Frid: Did that move you, my little pet?

Petra: Why have I never been a young lover? Can you tell me that?

Frid: My dear girl…console yourself. There are few young lovers in this world. You could almost count them. Love has smitten them both as a gift and a punishment.

Petra: And the rest of us?

Frid: The rest of us. (chuckles)

Petra: What becomes of us?

Frid: We invoke love, call out to it, cry for it, beg for it, try to mimic it. We think we own it and tell lies about it.

Petra: But we don’t have it.

Frid: No, my sugar pie. We are denied the love of loving. We don’t have the gift.

Petra: Nor the punishment.

Frid: Nor the punishment.



Frid: Now follows the second smile of the summer night. For the jesters, the fools…and the incorrigible.

Petra: Then she must be smiling at us.

Frid: Would you like a beer?

Petra: Then she is smiling at us, I said!

Frid: Correct. She is smiling at us.

Petra: Do you want to marry me?

Frid: (Laughs out loud)

Petra: But an hour ago you said you wanted to!

Frid: That was then!

Petra: YOU WILL MARRY ME!

Frid: You’re a strong little sugar plum!

Petra: YOU WILL MARRY ME! YOU WILL, YOU WILL, YOU WILL!



Petra: And the summer night smiled for the third time!

Frid: Oh, yes, my sugar plum, for the sad and dejected, for the sleepless and the lost souls, for the frightened and the lonely.



Smiles of a Summer Night is a famous comedy by Bergman. The parts I enjoyed the most are the dialogues between the servants – Petra the maid and Frid the Groom (the folks on the poster). Spent a considerable amount of time at work trying to find the scripts (don’t tell the boss) but it seems they didn’t make the ‘Memorable Quotes’ list anywhere. I thought I’d go put them here anyway. Hope some of you will enjoy it as much as I did.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I'll tell the boss if you don't lend me your copy of this film! :|

thers a little reference to a swedish movie in one of Satyajit Ray's films... cant remember the name... i have that one if you are interested. Barter?