A Ship to India

Ingmar Bergman's Basket Case

This is interesting if you are a Bergman completionist, and liket to see the building blocks that he would later use to create his later work. Other than that, you are probably okay to just focus on the other 10-15 great films he made and go watch, I dunno, one of the Altman's you have been putting off.

58.000

Another early Bergman work revolving around a woman with a questionable history. This one works decently, but is not among his strongest of the period.

Decent melodrama and frustration (original US title) but the characters aren't too consistent. The mother's the worst in that respect. Sally suffers from something---she isn't treated too well by either father or son but somehow falls in love for the latter? Fav scene: dad storming off in a destructive rage in his room after attempting to murder Johannes, then we see him sitting with sounds of the pursuing police growing louder.

The early Bergmans get overlooked, but I think most of them are quite good. This one has some weak writing but otherwise I liked it. You've got some of his familiar themes here, particularly humiliation and frustrated rage. The story is not terribly original, but it holds your attention, and the actors are all good. The camerawork is especially fine here as well, with a lot of artfully composed shots and expressive lighting. It's not a masterpiece, but I'd watch it again.

I feel no remorse for sleeping through this. I still got an idea of what was going on despite that.

Bergman is still finding his footing, but things are starting to fall into place. The women's roles are becoming deeper (even if the whole thing is centered around a Fallen Woman), the shots are more deliberate, the pace is still slow (let's face it, it'll never get fast) but deliberately so, with less Because The Plot Wills It shoehorning. He's starting to build a first posse around Malmsten and Fridh, but it's Löwenadler who shines - he's no Caligula, but that scene with the pump, DAMN.

Early Bergie Melodrama Rating (EBMR): 100/100

A lot more cinematic effort expended here compared with CRISIS, but the turgid melodrama (whose theme, more or less, is the necessity of courage) is less appealing than the folksiness of Bergman's debut. For those willing to overlook the script in favour of the images, there is something here worthy of attention, at least for historical reasons, but the overall result is undeniably humdrum.

Familiar Bergman themes are on display in this very dark family drama. He is much more blunt then he would be later in his career, but depression, mortality, and regret are all explored in a fairly tragic sense.

Simple. Similar themes to Bergmans better movies. Acting left room for desire. A small beginning.

Still early in Ingmar Bergman's career, so he's still working on finding his footing, his expression, his vision for his works. Can't say he nailed it with Skepp Till India Land (1947). Tries a sluggish melodramatic touch to a sailors life when he returns home after years at sea. Nothing becomes 100% believable. The only scene which I felt worked as intended was when the depressed captain had isolated himself in that dark room and you could hear the sounds of people coming to his assistance.

Let's say ... not my favourite Bergman. I really would not have known that the main character was supposed to be a hunchback if they hadn't said so a few dozen times. Some foreign films leave telling you that it's all "FINE". This one shouts "SLUT" at you.