Being one of Ingmar Bergman’s early works, Summer with Monika is noticeably less refined and you won’t have any trouble understanding what it means. For that matter, it’s a familiar story that most will have seen many variations of already. Yet its rawness has its appeal and this can be considered a foundational film that inspired many others. I dislike its moralizing tone against so-called loose women as it seems unworthy of a director of Bergman’s stature so I would consider it a lesser work.
Harry is a young man from a middle-class background who lives in Stockholm. His job as a stockist in a shop is dreary but he does it diligently. One night in a bar, he is asked for a light by a vivacious young woman Monika. She blatantly flirts with him and gets him to invite her to watch a film at the cinema together. Soon they are a couple and thoroughly in love with each other. Monika hates her own household as she considers it crowded with too many siblings. After falling out with her drunken father, she goes to Harry’s house to ask to stay the night and so he takes her to his father’s boat. The next day after being egged on by Monika, he quits his own job and they take the boat to live in the countryside. For a time, they live a carefree, idyllic life and mock those who slave away at their jobs as fools. But soon summer ends, they run out of food and Monika discovers that she is pregnant. Harry resolves to return to the city, marry Monika and get a good job to support his family.
Needless to say this is not a happily ever after sort of film. Even before their personal paradise comes to an end, we can see their clothing get scruffier, their hair and bodies unwashed while Monika complains of eating nothing but mushrooms meal after meal. Yet they do get that one perfect summer together when they get to live on a boat, frolic in the middle of nature and wake up whenever they want free of any obligations or responsibilities. This film was controversial at the time for showing Monika completely nude. There are no actual sex scenes but presumably they do have a lot of sex so Monika ends up pregnant in short order. I’m less certain why Bergman chose to include scenes such as when their boat is attacked by a random stranger. I believe it might be to emphasize that their little piece of heaven has no place for anyone else and is fragile. We can see something similar happening when Harry is uncomfortable about joining a dance party of some sort and prefers it when it is just the two of them.
That two young and stupid teenagers run away together is that misconceived notion that this is romantic only to have the consequences catch up with them is not surprising. I am disturbed that this is framed almost entirely as a sinful girl tempting a decent boy down a path that ruins his life. Harry at least has a longer term perspective and is willing to put in the work to support a family. Monika has no redeeming qualities whatsoever as she doesn’t even care about her child. The only thing she has going for her is her young and voluptuous body and her willingness to have sex. It seems like such a petty statement to make by a director who would go on to make far more interesting films. Summer with Monika is itself crudely made in many ways, including very awkward direction in what passes for its fight scenes. At best, it’s the raw intensity and the transgressive nature of its statement that gives it some value now.
Perhaps the most intriguing part of the film for me is the suggestion that despite all that has happened by the end, some part of Harry still feels that this fateful summer was a magical time, possibly the best summer of his life. That would be such a male thing to assert and somewhat reminds of La Grande Bellezza which explores similar themes. It wouldn’t surprise me that Bergman himself favors such sentiments as the actress Harriet Andersson who played Monika was also his lover at the time. This is very much a “thinking with your dick” kind of film and I wouldn’t recommend it.