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Ingmar Bergman takes the director's chair for the first time in the pedestrian adaptation of Leck Fisher's theatrical play, Crisis (Kris). An inauspicious debut, very little in this melodrama foreshadows the filmmaker's genius though it does indicate that Bergman knows how to construct a coherent narrative. Bookended with unnecessary off screen narrative descriptions of the idyllic village, Crisis unfolds as a simplistic morality play with one dimensional cardboard cutout characters. Best representing the type of character for which Bergman is known for is middle-aged music teacher Ingeborg (Dagny Lind)—stoic and full of existential self-doubts. Other characters are similarly conflicted, but they just aren’t fleshed out sufficiently.
Ingeborg has raised Nelly (Inga Landgré) ever since her mother Jenny (Marianne Löfgren) abandoned her at birth. Now 18 years later, Jenny suddenly reappears to reclaim her daughter and take her to live in the big city where she enjoy urban advantages and be with her mother. Jenny's initially unspoken agenda for ripping her from her roots has more selfish motives.
Despite Nelly's mundane ordinary existence in the small hamlet and her lack of interest in the much older veterinarian (Allan Bohlin) who fancies her, this doesn't supply sufficient reason for the young girl to pack for Stockholm. That's where gregarious Jack (Stig Olin) comes in. Playful and mischievous, he intrigues Nelly and beguiles her into following him to the big city. Unknown to Nelly is Jack's dark history and his dalliance with her mother.
Inevitably, life in the city doesn't pan out like Nelly anticipates, but her mother attempts to cover this (just like her other fantasies). Most revealing are the scenes where Ingeborg visits. Jenny unbelievably reads aloud from her daughter's diary a selected passage and reprises Mrs. Danvers (from Hitchcock's Rebecca) sinister display of clothing and undergarments to illustrate how good her Stockholm life is. Never fear, however. In morality plays, the righteous are always rewarded and the wicked inevitably are doomed for suffering and punishment.
Predictable and ordinary, Crisis would hardly stand on its own merits, but Bergman completists certainly must see (or own) this film. Although populated with thinly drawn characters, glimpses of Bergman's tormented future protagonists remain evident and some finely constructed individual scenes stand out from the competently constructed narrative—notably Ingeborg's dream sequence and Jenny's appearance behind the nylon curtain. This rare film is now readily available through The Criterion Collection's new Eclipse series on DVD—a fine print without the usual Criterion treatment of exquisite supplemental features. |
