Sammy-Jo Cervantes
There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.
Janae Milner
Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.
Hattie
I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.
Hitchcoc
This would be fine as an Italian farce. It is basically the story of a dull man who is full of testosterone (interesting because he's a gynecologist). Through various affairs and indiscretions, he has lost his connection to his wife. They are a match for one another and fight and spar through the whole thing. There is a little Taming of the Shrew action. First he steals her from his best friend; then he offers her back; then he wants her again. It is clever enough, I guess, but I expect more profundity from Bergman. Some of the banter is clever but ultimately, it's that old story of a man and wife, playing at a game, pretending not to be married and then setting up an encounter.
TheLittleSongbird
Ingmar Bergman has many several superb movies. A Lesson In Love is not one of his best, or one of my favourites shall I say, but I found it to be a fine and very overlooked film in many ways. It looks wonderful, the cinematography is especially good in the picnic scene and the scenery and images are all stunning to watch. The script is cynical, charming and funny at the same time, while the story is lighter in tone than most Bergman but is well balanced also with intelligently explored issues within the family especially the tension between David and Nix. The flashbacks are very carefully calculated, and there are some standout scenes, like at the picnic, on the train and with the granddad. Bergman as ever directs superbly. It is the performances that make A Lesson in Love the charmer it is, aside from the writing that is. The ever elegant Eva Dahlbeck and Gunnar Bjornstrand give superb performances that gives A Lesson in Love that extra sparkle. Fellow Bergman regular Harriet Anderssen is also impressive, though went onto even better things. Overall, a charming and funny film, definitely recommended. 9/10 Bethany Cox
faterson
I used to adore this movie in my early 20s for some reason, and watched it several times then. I'm no longer that impressed today. Ingmar Bergman admitted he loved watching US screwball comedies in his youth, so this is his take on that genre. Imagine Cary Grant in his typical role in a black-and-white US screwball comedy, and that's exactly the character ably portrayed by Gunnar Björnstrand in _A Lesson in Love_. But, there's one big difference: Björnstrand is not just the Swedish version of Cary Grant here: he at the same time manages to be the same character he portrays in arguably Bergman's greatest masterpiece, _Wild Strawberries_ -- a film made 4 years after this one. Indeed, another parallel between the two is the character of the elderly professor, portrayed here by the veteran actor Olof Winnerstrand; 4 years later, it would be another veteran actor, Victor Sjöström, once again as the father of the Gunnar Björnstrand character. In fact -- and this is astonishing -- many of the insights and sentiments spoken by the characters in _A Lesson in Love_ could appear, unedited, in _Wild Strawberries_, too; there's a consistency of outlook in these Bergman-like characters, even in a film that is presented as pure comedy. Whereas _Wild Strawberries_ focuses on the father, _A Lesson in Love_ highlights the son's marriage struggles; both have in common that they are portrayed as egomaniacs -- while whatever occurs in the movie is meant to correct that bad assessment of the character; nothing is so clear-cut in Bergman's world as to make it possible to condemn anyone as pure egomaniac, and that's that. Harriet Andersson is great in portraying a teenage girl's identity crisis; the performance is as realistic as one would expect in any dramatic movie. Feminists would shred _A Lesson in Love_ to pieces nowadays, because it shows the man ultimately "winning" over -- or "winning over" -- the woman. The slapstick is so-so, and will likely impress the viewer more when it is watched in a normal viewing environment; however, if you choose to stop and rewind and re-watch several scenes in closer detail, you are apt to notice several awkward moments. Some takes are so flagrantly unsynchronized to the preceding takes that it almost makes you wince; it's as if Bergman wanted to finish the movie as fast as possible. However, the dialogues and observations are witty or clever enough to keep you interested for the 90+ minutes of the movie's runtime, even if the ending (starting with the quay scene) is far-fetched and difficult to believe as realistic.
Petri Pelkonen
David and Marianne Erneman's marriage is going through a crisis, after 15 years.Gynecologist David is having an affair with a patient of his.She has gotten involved with her former lover Carl-Adam.On the train they meet again and do some reminiscing.A Lesson in Love (original title En Lektion I Kärlek) from 1954 is a film from Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman.The cast is great.Eva Dahlbeck and Gunnar Björnstrand work great together as Marianne and David.Yvonne Lombard is wonderful as Susanne Verin.Harriet Andersson is terrific as Nix.Åke Grönberg does great job as Carl-Adam.Olof Winnerstrand plays Professor Henrik Erneman.Renée Björling is Svea Erneman.John Elfström is Sam.Birgitte Reimer portrays Lise.The movie has a lot of good.I liked the grandpa's birthday sequence.And when they look back at Marianne's and Carl-Adam's wedding is rather amusing.The dance sequence is quite funny.The temptress takes David to dance and then he prepares to kiss her lovely lips.This represents Bergman at not his best.But even Bergman at not his best is better than many other filmmakers could come up with.
