A Newly Restored Bergman Obscurity in Vancouver

With Bergman 100, one of the many retrospectives this year marking the centennial of Ingmar Bergman’s birth, the Cinematheque in Vancouver is really savoring the occasion. The theater has been in no rush at all to wrap up the series, which began in March and continues through the rest of the year, including next Wednesday and Thursday, when the spotlight falls on Bergman’s underseen fifteenth feature, Dreams, showing in the Swedish Film Institute’s new restoration.A probing study of romantic illusions set in the fashion world, the 1955 film finds Bergman performing one of his most delicate tonal balancing acts, by turns wittily observing his characters’ foibles and more soberly taking stock of the depth of their desires and disappointments. The movie represented an important career stepping-stone as well: after making Dreams, Bergman reunited with three of its stars—Eva Dahlbeck, Harriet Andersson, and Gunnar Björnstrand—for Smiles of a Summer Night, the sparkling period comedy that would become his international breakthrough.

If you’re unable to make it to Vancouver for next week’s Bergman 100 screenings (the tragic romance To Joy, from 1950, is also showing), or you haven’t yet had your fill of any of this year’s centenary celebrations, fear not—we’ve got you covered. Come November, you’ll be able to enjoy the master’s films at home with Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema,our box set containing thirty-nine movies, more than thirty hours of supplemental material, and a 248-page book exploring every stage of the master’s career.