The way this movie opened, I figured I was going to find myself completely lost as to what it’s all about. Even though I feel like I’ve spent most of this year so far watching, and for the most part loving or at least admiring, Bergman’s catalog, I’m still paranoid that I’m not going to “get it”.

This is the most bizarre of his movies that I’ve seen so far. The story is a lot like The Magician – a group of entertainers subjected to a form of trial because their work is “questionable”, but the style is far less light and closer to the sick and seedy From the Life of the Marionettes. It has a lot of interesting moments concerning artists in general, how we perceive them, how they are, etc. The ending is downright spooky. The ‘18’ certificate here in the UK seems a bit harsh, though – I can understand it being very controversial and shocking in its time, but a couple of strap-on dildos and some guy telling another guy how to please his wife doesn’t seem exactly likely to “deprave and corrupt” an individual.

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