---
title: "Summer with Monika"
year: 1953
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/summer-with-monika"
fi1m_id: "summer-with-monika"
imdb_id: "tt0046345"
tmdb_id: 47735
wikidata_id: "Q917248"
fi1m_score: 80
critics_score: 71
critics_reviews: 6
published: "2026-09-25T05:21:30.728732+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-25T05:21:31.118462+00:00"
region: "CO"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Summer with Monika (1953)

Directed by Ingmar Bergman · 1h 38m · Drama, Romance

## Identity

Summer with Monika

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/summer-with-monika
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** summer-with-monika
- **IMDb ID:** tt0046345
- **TMDB ID:** 47735
- **Wikidata ID:** Q917248
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046345/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/47735, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q917248

**Fi1m score: 80** · Critics 71 from 6 reviews

*In a sentence:* Harriet Andersson makes behaving sensibly look like a poor use of good weather

> Ingmar Bergman’s romance is worth seeing for Harriet Andersson and the summer light caught by Gunnar Fischer. The writing can be needlessly harsh, but these young people’s hunger for freedom is easy to believe.

## Synopsis

Monika Eriksson (Harriet Andersson) and Harry Lund (Lars Ekborg) begin a working-class courtship, with Mrs. Lindström (Dagmar Ebbesen) among the people around them. Their romance belongs to a summer of city streets, seaside light and the urge to get away from ordinary life. Monika wants room to enjoy herself; sharing time with Harry offers a way of finding it. As the pair turn towards the coast, the city’s restrictions give way to the possibility of freedom. Being together means deciding how much of the life they know they can leave behind.

## Review

*Summer with Monika* is worth seeing for the frankness of its romance, even when the writing becomes too harsh with its young lovers. Ingmar Bergman lets their desire for pleasure make sense before asking us to worry about responsibility. The working-class courtship gives that desire some weight: getting away means escaping a life that already feels narrow. The trouble comes when the screenplay starts directing our sympathy too firmly.

Harriet Andersson is the main reason the film remains so persuasive. As Monika Eriksson, she makes wanting to enjoy herself seem ordinary and urgent, without asking permission to be likeable. There is a physical confidence to the performance that keeps the character from becoming merely an example of youthful recklessness. Lars Ekborg’s Harry Lund is less forceful, but his quieter presence gives the courtship room for uncertainty. The unevenness between them is more interesting than a tidily matched pair would have been.

Gunnar Fischer’s photography makes the strongest case for leaving ordinary life behind. The urban shadows have a hard edge, while the seaside light makes the land and water feel open and available. We felt relieved in those bright coastal passages. After the city’s visual pressure, the space around the lovers lets us share their pleasure in getting away. That matters because the freedom has to be desirable in its own right, not merely something to be dismissed as youthful foolishness.

P.A. Lundgren’s production design helps the urban scenes feel restrictive, giving Fischer’s shadows an environment in which to work. The surroundings make the desire for escape understandable without requiring the characters to explain every grievance. The music credited to Erik Nordgren, Eskil Eckert-Lundin and Walle Söderlund lends the romance some softness, though it makes less of an impression than the photography. The lovers’ ease in that light tells us enough about what they want.

The screenplay by Per Anders Fogelström and Ingmar Bergman is less assured when it bears down on the pair. Some of the plotting feels needlessly cruel, as though being clear-eyed about young love required making it suffer on schedule. Tage Holmberg and Gösta Lewin’s editing preserves the intensity, but cannot quite smooth the movement from natural ease into the more oppressive drama. We understand the wish to resist romantic sentimentality; the writing occasionally pushes so hard that the characters seem to have less say in their behaviour. This is a substantial weakness, though it does not undo the conviction of the performances.

This is a better choice for an evening of discussion than for comfortable agreement. Anyone looking for faultless lovers may struggle with Bergman’s interest in appetite, impatience and uneven affection. Within a genre that often makes desire respectable by attaching it to a promise, his willingness to take immediate pleasure seriously is worth the trouble. We would leave time afterwards to argue about how fairly he treats Monika.

*Fi1m score 80, published 25 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics respond warmly to Summer with Monika, with praise clustering around its sensuality, intimate realism and photography. Gunnar Fischer’s images receive particular attention for their summer light across land and sea, their urban shadows and their treatment of Andersson’s physical presence. The working-class courtship is another source of interest, while several reviews place the film within Bergman’s developing concerns or stress its influence on later filmmakers.

The reservations concern dramatic shape rather than visual craft, and the spread is wide despite five of the six reviews being positive. Slant Magazine admires the photography but finds the drama weak and the plotting carelessly cruel. The Los Angeles Times supplies the sole negative assessment, finding the film slight and unfocused, though it still values the youthful abandon. The disagreement centres on how much the vivid atmosphere compensates for weaknesses in the storytelling.

## Straight answers

**Is Summer with Monika worth watching?**

*Summer with Monika* is worth watching for its frank romance, Harriet Andersson’s performance and Gunnar Fischer’s seaside photography; we score it 80 out of 100. We recommend it for anyone willing to argue about flawed lovers, though the screenplay sometimes treats them with needless harshness.

**How long is Summer with Monika, and what is it rated?**

*Summer with Monika* runs 1h 38m. It is a drama and romance film.

**Where can I watch Summer with Monika in Colombia?**

*Summer with Monika* is not on any streaming or rental service in Colombia at the moment. It is available in 8 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily.

**How violent or frightening is Summer with Monika, and is it suitable for children?**

*Summer with Monika* carries a US R certificate, which indicates restricted viewing rather than a recommendation for children; no UK certificate is supplied. We would approach it as an adult relationship drama: the concern we identify is emotionally harsh treatment of its young lovers, rather than violence or frightening scenes.

**How does Summer with Monika compare to The Souvenir?**

*Summer with Monika* is our choice for the pleasure of escape, while [*The Souvenir*](https://film.one/film/the-souvenir) suits an interest in the painful workings of a damaging first romance. Both make uneven courtships persuasive through performance, but we find different weaknesses: Monika’s story pushes sympathy too firmly, while gaps between episodes make Julie harder to understand in Hogg’s film.

**Is Summer with Monika based on a true story or a book?**

*Summer with Monika* is adapted from a novel by Per Anders Fogelström, with a screenplay by Fogelström and Ingmar Bergman. We recommend it as a self-contained romance without preparatory reading, though we make no claim about its fidelity to the book or any basis in real events.

### Reviews we read (6)

- **The New Yorker**, Richard Brody (90/100, inferred): Brody regards the film as one of Bergman’s very best and among his most influential. He praises its frank eroticism and intimate realism, which inspired French New Wave filmmakers. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/dvd-of-the-week-summer-with-monika)
- **Slant Magazine**, Joseph Jon Lanthier (4/5): The critic finds the film intense but dramatically weak, with plotting that feels sloppily cruel. He praises its striking photography, especially the stark urban shadows and brilliant seaside light. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/summer-with-monika/)
- **Empire**, David Parkinson (75/100, inferred): Parkinson presents the film as a bold, sunny turning point in Bergman’s work, though its ending returns to bleak realism. He particularly praises Gunnar Fischer’s photography for capturing Andersson’s physicality and the essence of summer. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/summer-monika-review/)
- **The New York Times**, Dave Kehr (70/100, inferred): Kehr finds the film an influential, sensually vivid work that anticipates Bergman's later concerns, while noting its shift from naturalistic openness into dread and confinement. He especially praises Gunnar Fischer's cinematography and the film's evocative play of summer light over land and sea. [Read](https://archive.nytimes.com/query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage-9806E5DD1F3CF934A15756C0A9649D8B63.html)
- **Time Out** (70/100, inferred): The review describes the film as an absorbing portrait despite its distinctly wintry feel. It singles out the working-class courtship as a compelling focus. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/newyork/film/summer-with-monika)
- **Los Angeles Times**, MARK CHALON SMITH (40/100, inferred): The critic finds the film slight and somewhat unfocused, despite its personal significance to Bergman. He praises the story’s flush of post-adolescent abandon, while noting that censorship and controversy helped consign it to obscurity. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-19-ca-58452-story.html)

## Details

- **Director:** Ingmar Bergman
- **Director:** Ingmar Bergman
- **Screenplay:** Per Anders Fogelström
- **Writer:** Ingmar Bergman
- **Novel:** Per Anders Fogelström
- **Cinematography:** Gunnar Fischer
- **Editor:** Tage Holmberg, Gösta Lewin
- **Music:** Erik Nordgren, Eskil Eckert-Lundin, Walle Söderlund
- **Production design:** P.A. Lundgren
- **Costume design:** Barbro Sörman
- **Producer:** Allan Ekelund
- **Cast:** Harriet Andersson as Monika Eriksson; Lars Ekborg as Harry Lund; Dagmar Ebbesen as Mrs. Lindström; Åke Fridell as Ludwig Eriksson; Naemi Briese as Monika's Mother; Åke Grönberg as Harry's Friend at Work; Sigge Fürst as Johan; John Harryson as Lelle
- **Runtime:** 1h 38m
- **First release (Denmark):** 9 February 1953
- **Genres:** Drama, Romance
- **Budget:** $484,000

## Where to watch in Colombia

Not streaming, renting or buying in Colombia at the last check.

Also available in: AT, CH, DE, ES, FI, FR, GB, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *People on Sunday* (1930): Another brief escape from working life, with leisure observed without much illusion.
- *A Taste of Honey* (1961): Working-class romance with awkward consequences and a young woman allowed some stubbornness.
- *A Swedish Love Story* (1970): Young attraction feels serious, while the surrounding adults offer little useful guidance.
- *The Green Ray* (1986): For more summer light and a less certain route towards companionship.
- *The Souvenir* (2019), Fi1m 84: Another uneven courtship, watched closely enough to make easy judgements uncomfortable. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-souvenir.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/summer-with-monika