The Devil's Eye

Disappointing. The comedy is only sporadically amusing, and Bergman doesn't seem to have a clear grasp on whatever he's trying to say. Kind of an interesting set-up, but it doesn't really work very well, and the performances are lackluster (even Bjornstrand).

Is this a case of Bergman channeling Buñuel? I'd like to think so, with the result a brilliantly simple and hilarious comedy (an existential raunchy comedy?) about the eternal struggle between good and evil shot through with the Swedish master's trademark preoccupation with suffering and redemption. It's like watching a theatre performance on film, with Gunnar Björnstrand your MC for the evening. Needless to say, this is exactly Bergman's intention.The Pablo/Renata tryst is totally mesmerising.

Amusing on paper, unfunny as a film, even if it has some clever moments. As with anything written by Bergman, not everything is throwaway, and there are some good exchanges between Don Juan and the vicar's daughter, but this is mostly floating in movie-limbo. As others have already said, lighthearted comedy isn't exactly Bergman's claim to fame.

Droll, folkloric farce becomes something more typically Bergmanesque, wherein characters who wrestle with their "devils in the cupboard" have devastating and formative experiences. A rite of passage into adulthood, or a clarity of faith, or the realization of a lifelong regret. It's distressing stuff, but more fantastical and whimsical, pricklier and wicked than Bergman's most celebrated works. I find The Devil's Eye underrated.

A theatrical (not ha-ha funny) comedy, perhaps an answer to Carné's "The Devil's Envoys". Uncharacteristically lighthearted stuff coming from Bergman. It's enjoyable and clever enough but comedy is obviously not the director's specialty, and it doesn't match up to his best stuff.

Gêmeos.

Bergman's comedies tend to be underrated, and that's very true of this tale, which amounts to a rejection of traditional ways of thinking about sexual life in terms of oppositions between good and evil and chastity and promiscuity. Some elements of both the script and staging, particularly towards the end, reminded me of WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (1962; staged by Bergman with Anderssson: 1963; film: 1966): it seems possible that Albee and/or Nichols may have been influenced by this comedy.

This is an excellent movie. If you are an English speaker more than Swedish, you may find that not all subtitles are created equally. Some jokes translate much better than others, but good subtitles tend to be much more literate with a rich vocabulary that expresses a lot of nuance otherwise lost in lesser translations.

Another foray into comedy by Bergman. Unlike his more successful attempt into lighter comic movies, this one feels like Bergman trying to make a pure farce but being hindered by his need to insert meaning into it. It tries but muddles commenting on modern morality of love, marriage and sex plus the double standards for and oppression of women in that regard by contrasting it with old fashioned in Don Juan. It also doesn't help the subplot about the sidekick seducing the mother is more enjoyabl

74.000

Great Bergman comedy.

Mês especial do centenário de Ingmar Bergman filme #10. As comédias do Bergman são incompreensivelmente subestimadas em relação ao seu apelo dramático, mas é assim a comédia desde sempre, enfim. Aqui ele novamente não decepciona com um trabalho finíssimo como lhe é inerente. Coleção Versátil Ingmar Bergman Volume 5

unsurprisingly excellent acting

Droll screwball farce, beautifully blocked and lit. I am rather fond of the upbeat, uncynical vicar (now that's a change for Bergman), locking gin and demons in his cupboard while his wife gives herself to Pablo, the crooked-nosed helper of a pale, depressed Don Juan. It's all sort of a wake-up call for the man.

Bergman tries to recapture the wacky sex comedy of Smiles of a Summer Night combined with some oddly chosen patchwork of his earlier work, but despite some good scenes it's mostly kind of listless. Järrel enjoys playing Satan again, Poppe is a delight, but Kulle's Don Juan is both depressed and depressing and the plot and moral feel paper-thin.