Gycklarnas afton (Sawdust and Tinsel)(Sunset of a Clown)(The Naked Night) (1953)

100% of critics liked it
(9 reviews)
83% of users liked it
(1,370 ratings)

This rich, powerful Ingmar Bergman film charts the frustrations and humiliations of several circus performers. The circus's portly owner, Albert (Ake Gronberg), recalls a humiliating incident involving the company's clown, Frost (Anders Ek), who discovered his wife, Alma (Gudrun Brost), swimming… More This rich, powerful Ingmar Bergman film charts the frustrations and humiliations of several circus performers. The circus's portly owner, Albert (Ake Gronberg), recalls a humiliating incident involving the company's clown, Frost (Anders Ek), who discovered his wife, Alma (Gudrun Brost), swimming nude before a band of cheering soldiers. Having concluded his recollection, Albert visits his estranged wife, Agda (Annika Tretow), who realizes that he has made little money with his circus endeavor. While Albert endures the humiliating encounter with his wife, his jealous mistress, Anne (Harriet Andersson), retaliates by yielding to a seductive local actor, Frans (Hasse Ekman), then realizes that she has been exploited and debased. Later, the drunken Frost informs Albert of Anne's sexual indiscretion, whereupon Albert determines to thrash Anne's cynical lover. In the ensuing altercation, however, Frans manages to thwart Albert's bullish attacks and deliver a series of punishing blows. Beaten and degraded, Albert ponders suicide, then decides to avenge himself on unfaithful women by killing the company's bear, beloved by the provocative Alma, whose betrayal of Frost has so haunted Albert. Following the bear's demise, the company departs to another town. Gycklarnas Afton is full of powerful performances and staggering sequences, including the legendary flashback in which Frost finds his wife cavorting nude before the soldiers. In this scene, played with almost hysterical intensity, Frost, dressed as a clown, tearfully carries his nude wife from the water, past the soldiers, and back to the circus tent. The soundtrack's jarring contrast between sheer silence and a blaring brass band, coupled with the black-and-white cinematography's emphasis on glaring sunlight, generate a mood of considerable tension and unease. This extraordinary scene ranks among Ingmar Bergman's greatest feats and readily establishes Gycklarnas Afton as an unflinching examination of the human condition. ~ Les Stone, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 35 min.
Directed By: Ingmar Bergman
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Sep 14, 1953 Wide
On DVD: Nov 20, 2007

Critic Reviews

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
A major early feature by Ingmar Bergman.
Dan Callahan, Slant Magazine
Sawdust and Tinsel is Bergman's first film where the idea of humiliation, specifically sexual humiliation, becomes crucial to his conception.
Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
Not just a showcase for motifs that Bergman would use to create masterpieces later; it's a great film all by itself.
Widgett Walls, Needcoffee.com
While I can understand it being underrated, I wouldn't go so far as to call it a masterpiece. It is however, pretty damn good.
James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk
holds out a modicum of hope, but only enough to suggest that human relationships, despite their difficulties, are what keep us together
Sean Axmaker, MSN.com
It's a gloomy study in humiliation, filled with portentous performances and symbol laden imagery and set in Bergman country of gray skies and rainy days.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
It has great performances and is a visual treat, but its masochistic storyline might not be for all tastes.
Fernando F. Croce, Slant Magazine
The tears of a clown sting twice as much when shot by Ingmar Bergman.
Fernando F. Croce, Slant Magazine
Pain and degradation follow, inevitably before the eyes of a derisive crowd.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Hailed by some at the time of its release as Bergman's masterpiece, this is proof of the director's maturing visual and thematic style.
Derek Adams, Time Out
Vsually it is a treat, with Bergman's richly baroque compositions and persistent use of deep focus brilliantly exploiting the circus and theatre settings. And the performances are first-rate.
, Film4
[Anticipates] Bergman's mature works.

Read all 12 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Cassandra M

I first, and probably, last saw this wonderful film over 7 years ago. It has not been easy to catch again and then I think that when the time since you have last seen a favourite gets too long you begin to have concerns as to whether it will live up to your memory of it. Having just… More
I first, and probably, last saw this wonderful film over 7 years ago. It has not been easy to catch again and then I think that when the time since you have last seen a favourite gets too long you begin to have concerns as to whether it will live up to your memory of it. Having just watched it again I am blown away all over again. I cannot believe how much of the fantastic visuals I remembered and the extent to which the power of the film is still so affecting. There is not a wasted frame, this is pure cinema throughout. The acting is stupendous, the cinematography outstanding and the bitter sweet tale so seemingly simple, yet so devastatingly all consuming. I know Bergman has made more poetic films and more profound ones but I still think this one is hard to beat for so eloquently presenting those basic issues that matter to everyone.
Tom S

Bergman does Fellini before Fellini did Fellini.
Emily B

Oh Ingmar, you never fail to impress me! The plot concerning the lives of a circus troupe is simple and nothing new but Bergman makes it his own. Filled with gorgeous images, such as the great use of mirrors and that amazing flashback sequence with the clown. The performances are… More
Oh Ingmar, you never fail to impress me! The plot concerning the lives of a circus troupe is simple and nothing new but Bergman makes it his own. Filled with gorgeous images, such as the great use of mirrors and that amazing flashback sequence with the clown. The performances are also strong especially Åke Grönberg as Albert the ringmaster, and Andersson, who as always, is brilliant.