Another one of Ingmar Bergman's best films, this one involves a shoddy, flea-bitten circus early in the 20th Century. Ake Gronberg is the ringleader and Harriet Andersson his young, beautiful second wife. The failing circus arrives in the town where Gronberg left his first wife, who has since become a successful shop owner, and two sons. While he's away visiting them, Andersson, who (rightly) believes he is trying to dump her for a comfortable home life, sneaks off to the local theater, hoping she can hook up with an actor and leave the circus herself. This film is a constant stream of humiliation - but, as cruel as it gets, it never feels like Bergman is mocking these characters. They are quite likable, as pathetic as they are, and you suffer along with them. It's pretty much a perfect film. Shot for shot, I am in awe of it. And each performance is one for the ages. Anders Ek in particular is memorable as a rubber-faced, alcoholic clown. A flashback near the beginning of the film where he humiliates himself to protect his wife from the leering of soldiers (which she gladly invites) is one of the most gruelling sequences in the cinema - and yet it's only the beginning.
Review of Sawdust and Tinsel
