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Prison (1949 film)
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Wikipedia article
'Prison' , also known as 'The Devil's Wanton' in the United States, is a 1949 Swedish drama film directed by Ingmar Bergman. It is the earliest film directed by Bergman to be based on his own original screenplay.
Plot
Other than film-maker Martin Grand, the characters are types: Thomas, a writer; his wife Sofi, who leaves him after he proposes a suicide pact; Birgitta Carolina Sderberg, a teenage prostitute; and Peter, her pimp by whom she has a child that he kills. The film presents Thomas living the scenario that Grand and he discussed, a world that is really Hell and ruled by the Devil instead of God. He and Birgitta are unable to escape their unhappiness together.James Travers, [http://www.frenchfilms.org/review/prison-1949.html "Prison (1949), directed by Ingmar Bergman"], French Films.org, retrieved 18 June 2022.
Cast
* Doris Svedlund Birgitta Carolina Sderberg
* Birger Malmsten Thomas
* Eva Henning Sofi
* Hasse Ekman Martin Grand
* Stig Olin Peter
* Irma Christenson Linna
* Anders Henrikson Paul
* Marianne Lfgren Mrs. Bohlin
* Anna
* Curt Masreliez Alf
* Britta Holmberg Birgitta's Mother in Dream (voice)
Production
Producer Lorens Marmstedt agreed to finance the filming of Bergman's experimental screenplay, which the director said was in large part exploring the question, "Is earth Hell?"Jerry Vermilye, 'Ingmar Bergman: His Life and Films', Jefferson: North Carolina: McFarland, 2002, repr. 2007, , [https://books.google.com/books?id=GxaBCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA13#v=onepage&q&f=false p. 13]. Filming, on a very low budget of approximately $30,000, took place over only 18 days,Frank Gado, 'The Passion of Ingmar Bergman', Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 1986, repr. 1996, , [https://books.google.com/books?id=myqJ3XwjA1UC&pg=PA43#v=onepage&q&f=false pp. 4344]. using an Expressionist style of cinematography; characterisation is minimal and the acting flat, in keeping with the emphasis on existential symbolism. At one point, in further distancing, Thomas and Birgitta watch a ridiculous silent film together.
References
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