Monika (Sommaren med Monkia)*

• 1953 ----- b & w ----- 96 min ----- vhs
• (Directed by Ingmar Bergman, screenplay by Ingmar Bergman, Per-Anders Fogelstrom; with Harriet Andersson, Lars Ekborg, John Harryson, Georg Skarstedt, Ake Fridell) Bergman's explicitly erotic film chronicles the coming-of-age of a young woman. Monika is an impoverished teenager smitten with Harry, the boy next door. The two fall in love and share a summer of romance before the stark realities of life cloud their joy with pain and betrayal. With documentary-like naturalism, Bergman captures the characters' awakening to passion and the human body. [As with all materials of a sensitive nature, it is strongly suggested that faculty preview this film before showing it to their students.] (In Swedish with English subtitles) (Restricted to classroom use only)
• Topics: (Literature, Motion Pictures: Features, Slavic Languages and Literature, Women Studies)