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Bookmark this pageGycklarnas Afton (1953)
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Acknowledging the influence of Dupont's Variety - one of the keystones of German expressionism, in which marriage was seen as a perilous high-wire act - Bergman here employs the circus as a metaphor for the humiliating hoops through which men and women are put by their sexual dreams and desires. Heavily masochistic in its anguished account of the futile attempts of an ageing circus owner (Grönberg) and his steely young mistress (Andersson) to escape the dreary limitations of their mutually destructive involvement, it isn't exactly prepossessing in theme. But visually it is a treat, with Bergman's richly baroque compositions and persistent use of deep focus brilliantly exploiting the circus and theatre settings. And the performances are first-rate.Author: TM
Cast & crew
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Producer: Rune Waldekranz
Cast: Harriet Andersson, Ake Grönberg, Hasse Ekman, Anders Ek, Gudrun Brost, Annika Tretow, Gunnar Björnstrand full cast
Duration: 96 mins
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