Summer with Monika

This is the single greatest film I have ever seen on the topic of young love.  Bergman captures the passion and irrationality of youth flawlessly.  But he also captures the sudden fall that occurs when the physical attraction fizzles out and all that's left are two people who don't even know each other.  That kind of thing might just result in the end of a relationship, but these are teenagers.

 

The young couple in question decide to run away from home together. After a summer of living alone and having sex, they start to drift apart.  Then the girl realizes that she's pregnant.  They don't even like each other at this point.  But out of stubbornness and spite (against the world/parents/each other), they decide to get married.  Thus ends the movie. 

 

How many marriages mirror this movie?  I don't even want to know.  At least today people get divorced.  Back when this movie was made/takes place, people were in it for life.  A life of misery.  That's what hormones and puppy love lead to!

 

"Summer with Monika" is actually a phenomenal movie.  It feels real.  But that's true of all the Ingmar Bergman films I've seen.  Even when the subject is strange or unnatural, his direction just feels natural and right.  Some of that is owed to his actors.  The kids in "Monika" are top notch.  They are so much more than just two horny teens.  They bring their pasts and their futures into the performances and every line and action becomes something greater.

 

I highly recommend "Summer with Monika."  Especially as a summer movie.  You'll get caught up in the romantic notion of taking a boat into the wild to fornicate free from responsibility.  And you'll be crushed by the weight of reality.  Despite the downer ending, I get the impression that Bergman may have felt that one amazing summer may be worth a life of misery. 

 

8.5 out of 10