Sawdust and Tinsel

+ intro by Geoff Andrew, Programmer-at-Large

Gycklanas afton

Ingmar Bergman’s classic portrait of a travelling circus beset by financial problems and rocky sexual relationships.

  • Director

    Ingmar Bergman

  • With

    Harriet Andersson, Ace Grönberg, Hasse Ekman, Anders Ek

  • Sweden 1953. 93min

  • Digital

  • Certificate

    12A

  • English subtitles

Set in the early 1900s, Bergman’s film about the trials and tribulations faced by a failing travelling circus hones in on the rocky relationship of the ageing owner and his younger lover; deception, recrimination, revenge and humiliation run their course... The striking Expressionist camerawork, uniformly fine performances, and Bergman’s acerbic script – which revels in regarding life as a circus act – make for bracing entertainment.

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