The summer Harry spends with Monika defines much of the rest of his life. They meet in the city, quit their jobs and spend one passionate summer together during which he gets her pregnant forcing them to marry young. Ingmar Bergman's early work "Summer with Monika" is much closer to the British Kitchen-Sink movement than anything Bergman did later. It's like a Swedish version of "A Kind of Loving" and while in the Bergman canon it may count as a minor work it's also bold, imaginative and yes, depressing. It also features a terrific performance from a 21 year old Harriet Andersson as Monika. Bergman wrote the film for her and it certainly paid off, launching her on an international career. As Harry, Lars Ekborg is also excellent, though he never quite had the career he deserved, dying from cancer at the age of 43. Not a Bergman masterpiece, then, but certainly worth seeing.
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