Juninatten (aka June Night) (1940)

After she is shot by her lover (Gunnar Sjoberg) and a scandal evolves due to the trial and the tabloid press, a young woman (Ingrid Bergman) flees the small town and heads for Stockholm where she hopes she will be swallowed up in anonymity and start a new life. In her last Swedish film before relocating to Hollywood, Bergman is luminous and already gives the kind of assured performance and screen presence that would soon make her one of the most popular stars of the 1940s. As for the film itself, her character isn't very likable. She seems quite knowledgeable about her flaws and her ability to manipulate and she's not very sympathetic, even repaying a great kindness shown her by a woman (Marianne Lofgren) by stealing away her fiance (Olof Widgren) though frankly, he doesn't seem worth stealing. In fact, they deserve each other. Still, the movie's view of romanticism seems ambiguous. I'm not quite sure that we're supposed to take the lovers running off as a "happy ending". While Bergman is excellent, she's not the whole show and the supporting players are quite good. Directed by Per Lindberg. With Marianne Aminoff, Lill Tollie Zellman and Hasse Ekman.