Kris (1946)

Kris: Directed by Ingmar Bergman. With Inga Landgré, Stig Olin, Marianne Löfgren, Dagny Lind. A small-town piano teacher is shocked by the arrival of her foster daughter’s real mother, whose young lover soon follows and causes further disruption.

“For a directional debut, this is very solid stuff, not only skillfully directed but also set to a brilliant original music score. I would however identify one weakness with Bergmanu0026#39;s directing here: it is very much tailored to the script, with dialogue or narration almost all the time, and this leads to it being too talkative, with limited breaks in which one can stop and admire the way that the story is being told. The film is in this sense very different to the style that Bergman would later adopt, and although perhaps somewhat weak, Bergmanu0026#39;s skills do shine through. There are well-framed shots, an effective stream-of-consciousness sequence, great camera angles and excellent camera movement. The inclusion of some more non-dialogue bits possibly would have improved this film, but there is little else to complain about, with quite a good story behind the material too.”