Dreams (1955)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Dreams (1955) – I. Bergman

But whose dreams are these?  Ingmar Bergman invites us to dream along with Eva Dahlbeck’s fashion designer, Suzanne, and with Harriet Andersson’s fashion model, Doris – both dream of relationships (with a past married lover, Ulf Palme, and a new older sugar daddy, Gunnar Björnstrand, respectively), that are ultimately not to be.  These men may also be dreaming, or fantasizing, about these women – inappropriately so.  So, this is a film about mistakes and regrets, poor choices and their consequences.  Dahlbeck and Andersson may be paired, such that Doris is an earlier version of Suzanne who may yet have the opportunity to choose a better path.  Perhaps she will – and perhaps Suzanne has come to her senses by the end of the film (or perhaps not?). The men who tempt them are clearly escaping their own dreary existences to chase dreams (that can never be) – but Bergman’s interest seems to be focused on the more complicated situations of the women.  Indeed, the film ends with a shot of Dahlbeck wearing a very complex expression (that may be ambivalent, ambiguous, or both).  I had high hopes for the film from the start, when Hilding Bladh’s camera work merged with Bergman’s direction and ear-popping synchronised sound to create a wordless opening scene (a fashion shoot) with heightened sensory power (and another impressive scene on a train suggests that Dahlbeck is thinking of suicide, with expressionistic flair). But once the protagonists move to Göteborg, the arthouse moves are toned down and the film loses some zing. Yet, this is still clearly a film by a masterful director, even if less persuasive overall.