Summer with Monika (1953)

Young adults Monika and Harry meet, fall in love, and run away on his father’s boat together for the summer. When summer is over, reality takes over in predictable and unfortunate ways for the two. Perhaps I’m too old for this type of movie, but I couldn’t get swept away the young love or even in the beautiful Swedish cinematography because I was just waiting for that foot to drop. While Harry is somewhat sympathetic, Monika both before and after their idyllic summer romance comes across as an entitled brat. Reading about Bergman’s relationship with his young actress and Woody Allen’s love for the film unfortunately adds an icky shade across the whole thing as well.