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Albert is an ageing, nihilistic, owner of a Circus, which
is in the throws of financial death. He tries to find some
love and solace in the arms of a much younger woman, Anna,
only for her to betray him. He is even rejected by his ex-wife.
No matter what he tries to do he cannot avoid the inevitable...
Sawdust
and Tinsel (Gycklarnas afton 1953) was written
and directed by Ingmar Bergman and represents one of his earlier
films. Ingmar Bergman was a critically acclaimed Swedish director,
whose work became influential for a whole generation of directors,
especially his greatest works Wild Strawberries (1957)
and The Seventh Seal (1957), which itself is being
released on Blu-ray soon.
Bergman
is often thought of as a dour director and not without some
justification. He often tackled difficult subjects such as
death, or in the case of Sawdust and Tinsel used the
metaphor of a circus to describe the hoops that humans often
jump through in their pursuit of love. The film depicts the
utter hopelessness of pursuing that which is always out of
reach.
His
characters are depicted with few, if any, redeeming qualities.
We are not meant to root for Albert as his pursuit of happiness
is in fact driven almost wholly by negative emotions. Both
Anna and Albert do everything that they can to escape their
self destructive relationship. The only person who is portrayed
as not stuck in negativity is Albert's wife, who following
his abandonment of her, lost her love for him almost immediately.
When he returns home she is now a very successful business
woman and the owner of two shops, whilst Albert who had left
her for a romantic dream has nothing. Bergman seems to feel
that love, rather than being a positive force, is ultimately
destructive for those that pursue it.
Sawdust
and Tinsel will do nothing to help Bergman escape the
reputation of making nihilistic films, and I don't think that
he would have cared. Whilst not the best film that he made,
the film remains a powerful work for a young film maker, demonstrating
Bergman's visual style which remains impressive.
The
print is better than you would expect, not only for a film
of this age, but also because Bergman produced films on a
very tight budget. The print has a very small amount of damage,
though not enough to distract you from the movie. Audio is,
stereo, Swedish with optional subtitles. The disc contains
two trailers by way of extras.
Tinsel
and Sawdust, though an important film, in that it demonstrates
many of the themes which would appear in Bergman's greater
works, is not going to be to everybody's tastes, but if you're
a Bergman fan then this will be a welcome addition to your
collection.
Charles
Packer
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