When you think of the films of Ingmar Bergman often it is portentous, symbolically-loaded movies which spring to mind, delving into the souls of a protagonist mired in existential conflict or wracked with religious guilt. Summer With Monika is a refreshing diversion from Bergman's usual serious-minded intellectualism. On its release the real draw for many to Summer With Monika came from all the talk about a nude scene - it was released in 1953, an era of cinema where unclothed ladies on screen was almost unheard of. This is a film about passion borne through boredom, with Monika (Harriet Andersson, Bergman's partner at the time) and young man Harry (Lars Ekborg) eloping to the Swedish archipalego for a summer fling. Since this is Bergman all doesn't end well for the couple - young romance, he tells us, is fleeting, and a disaffected Monika moves on to pastures new several months later, leaving Harry to look after their newborn child
