A Ship to India (1947)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

A Ship to India (1947) – I. Bergman

Ingmar Bergman’s third feature is a moody psychodrama that shows us people trapped in unhappy relationships, looking for a way out, inflicting harm or having harm inflicted on them.  We begin with Johannes Blom (Birger Malmsten) who has just returned to his home port after seven years away at sea.  He is anxious to see the girl he left behind – but when he finds her, she is bitter and cold.  He wanders off and falls asleep on the beach – at which point begins a long flashback (comprising almost all of the movie) that tells his story and that of those around him.  Indeed, the dominant figure in the flashback is Johannes’ father, Captain Alexander Blom (Holger Löwenadler) who is sadistic to his son (berating him because of a slight hunched back) and neglectful of his wife and a bad captain to his crew.  He goes on a two or three day bender and brings back a girl with whom he plans to sail away when the current job is done, leaving his wife and son.  The girl, Sally (Gertrud Fridh), is a music hall singer/dancer with a possibly sordid past – but upon seeing how the father treats his family, she feels sympathy and tenderness for Johannes.  The movie is frank about their sexual relationship (but apparently this was edited from US prints).  As expected, the father-son conflict comes to a head, resulting in Johannes leaving for his seven-year voyage (the early scenes assure us that all the characters survive the flashback but you might not fully expect that, otherwise).  When the flashback ends, we see how Sally and Johannes’ relationship proceeds.  Although not yet at the height of his powers – and owing a strong debt to the poetic realism of Marcel Carne (for example, Le Jour Se Leve, 1939) – Bergman creates emotional tension superbly here; we are allowed to consider how all of the major characters view their conflicts and the possible psychological reasons behind their behaviour (softening our negative judgments of some or at least evoking pity).  But no one yet seems to have completely lost hope – everyone is grasping for peace and serenity in their futures (although some may not find it).  This might not be the blueprint for future Bergman characters.