Crisis (1946)

Crisis (Swedish: Kris) is a 1946 Swedish film directed by Ingmar Bergman. The film was Bergman's first feature as director and he also wrote the screenplay, based on the Danish radio play Moderhjertet (translated as The Mother Animal, A Mother's Heart, The Mother Creature, and The Maternal Instinct) by Leck Fischer.

The story follows a young girl living a quiet life in a small town with her foster mother. Nelly is an innocent 18-year-old becoming increasingly aware of the effect that her beauty has on the men of her little Swedish village. Ingeborg is a respectably dour woman who teaches piano to village youth and has undoubtedly sacrificed much for the sake of her foster daughter. As Nelly is on the verge of womanhood and Ingeborg is in failing health, Miss Jenny returns in her fancy hat, painted nails and trampy air of sophistication, to take her long-abandoned daughter away with her to sample the indulgent fruits of urban life.

Jenny has had a rough past, involving prostitution and other scandals, but now owns a beauty salon that’s afforded her a few comforts in life, material and otherwise. Among them is a dapper mustachioed gentleman acquaintance named Jack, who follows Jenny to the village as an uninvited guest. Jenny’s purpose in visiting Nelly was to meet up with her at a charity ball, and when Jack learns about the festivities planned for that night, he’s more than happy to inject more liveliness into the affair than the village elders had in mind.

Synopsis

Jenny, patronne d'un institut de beauté à Stockholm, arrive dans une petite ville de province pour récupérer sa fille Nelly, maintenant âgée de 18 ans, qu'elle avait confiée à une autre femme, Ingeborg Johnson, dès sa naissance... Celle-ci, qui vient de découvrir qu'elle est gravement malade, vit modestement, de quelques cours de piano et en louant une chambre à Ulf, un jeune vétérinaire amoureux de Jenny...

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