Smiles of a Summer Night -The Criterion Collection- -Blu-ray-

After fifteen films that received mostly local acclaim, the 1955 comedy Smiles of a Summer Night ( Sommarnattens leende) at last ushered in an international audience for Ingmar Bergman ( The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries). In turn-of-the-century Sweden, four men and four women of different classes attempt to navigate the laws of attraction. During a weekend in the country, the women collude to force the men’s hands in matters of the heart, exposing their pretensions and insecurities along the way. Chock-full of flirtatious propositions and sharp witticisms delivered by such Swedish screen legends as Gunnar Björnstrand ( The Seventh Seal, Winter Light) and Harriet Andersson ( Through a Glass Darkly, Cries and Whispers), Smiles of a Summer Night is one of cinema’s great erotic comedies.