In A Lesson in Love, Ingmar Bergman seems to be trying to turn Eva Dahlbeck into Carole Lombard. She certainly has Lombard's blond glamour, and she makes a surprising go at knockabout comedy. But where Lombard had the light touch of a Howard Hawks or an Ernst Lubitsch to guide her in her best work, Dahlbeck is in the hands of Bergman, whose touch no one has ever called light. A year later, the Bergman- Dahlbeck collaboration would make a better impression with Smiles of a Summer Night, but A Lesson in Love sometimes verges on smirkiness in its treatment of the marriage of Marianne (Dahlbeck) and David Erneman (Gunnar Björnstrand). They are on the verge of divorce and she is about to marry her old flame Carl-Adam (Åke Grönberg), a sculptor for whom she once posed. David is a gynecologist who has had a series of flings with other women, including Susanne (Yvonne Lombard), with whom he is trying to break up. But Marianne has not exactly been faithful to their vows either. Meanwhile, we also get to know their children, Nix (Harriet Andersson) and her bratty little brother, Pelle (Göran Lundquist), and David's parents (Olof Winnerstrand and Renée Björling), who in sharp contrast to Marianne and David are celebrating 50 years of marriage. While Bergman sharply delineates all of these characters - - especially 15-year-old Nix, who hates being a girl so much that she asks her father if he can perform sex-change operations -- the semi-farcical situation he puts them has a kind of aimless quality to it. I appreciated Andersson's performance the more for having seen her as the dying Agnes in Cries and Whispers the night before, but in this film the role makes no clear thematic sense.

I used to adore this movie in my early 20s for some reason, and watched it several times then. I'm no longer that impressed today. Ingmar Bergman admitted he loved watching US screwball comedies in his youth, so this is his take on that genre. Imagine Cary Grant in his typical role in a black-and-white US screwball comedy, and that's exactly the character ably portrayed by Gunnar Björnstrand in _A Lesson in Love_. But, there's one big difference: Björnstrand is not just the Swedish version of Cary Grant here: he at the same time manages to be the same character he portrays in arguably Bergman's greatest masterpiece, _Wild Strawberries_ -- a film made 4 years after this one. Indeed, another parallel between the two is the character of the elderly professor, portrayed here by the veteran actor Olof Winnerstrand; 4 years later, it would be another veteran actor, Victor Sjöström, once again as the father of the Gunnar Björnstrand character. In fact -- and this is astonishing -- many of the insights and sentiments spoken by the characters in _A Lesson in Love_ could appear, unedited, in _Wild Strawberries_, too; there's a consistency of outlook in these Bergman-like characters, even in a film that is presented as pure comedy. Whereas _Wild Strawberries_ focuses on the father, _A Lesson in Love_ highlights the son's marriage struggles; both have in common that they are portrayed as egomaniacs -- while whatever occurs in the movie is meant to correct that bad assessment of the character; nothing is so clear-cut in Bergman's world as to make it possible to condemn anyone as pure egomaniac, and that's that. Harriet Andersson is great in portraying a teenage girl's identity crisis; the performance is as realistic as one would expect in any dramatic movie. Feminists would shred _A Lesson in Love_ to pieces nowadays, because it shows the man ultimately "winning" over -- or "winning over" -- the woman. The slapstick is so-so, and will likely impress the viewer more when it is watched in a normal viewing environment; however, if you choose to stop and rewind and re-watch several scenes in closer detail, you are apt to notice several awkward moments. Some takes are so flagrantly unsynchronized to the preceding takes that it almost makes you wince; it's as if Bergman wanted to finish the movie as fast as possible. However, the dialogues and observations are witty or clever enough to keep you interested for the 90+ minutes of the movie's runtime, even if the ending (starting with the quay scene) is far-fetched and difficult to believe as realistic.

David and Marianne Erneman's marriage is going through a crisis, after 15 years.Gynecologist David is having an affair with a patient of his.She has gotten involved with her former lover Carl-Adam.On the train they meet again and do some reminiscing.A Lesson in Love (original title En Lektion I Kärlek) from 1954 is a film from Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman.The cast is great.Eva Dahlbeck and Gunnar Björnstrand work great together as Marianne and David.Yvonne Lombard is wonderful as Susanne Verin.Harriet Andersson is terrific as Nix.Åke Grönberg does great job as Carl-Adam.Olof Winnerstrand plays Professor Henrik Erneman.Renée Björling is Svea Erneman.John Elfström is Sam.Birgitte Reimer portrays Lise.The movie has a lot of good.I liked the grandpa's birthday sequence.And when they look back at Marianne's and Carl-Adam's wedding is rather amusing.The dance sequence is quite funny.The temptress takes David to dance and then he prepares to kiss her lovely lips.This represents Bergman at not his best.But even Bergman at not his best is better than many other filmmakers could come up with.

See the lighter side of Bergman in this movie. Marital difficulties and challenges are explored. Even though there's some food for thought, the movie stays on the surface and doesn't go into lenghty analysis. Reminded me about some of Eric Rohmer's films, but without the fine details. Not to worry though, Bergman's lesson in love is still worth watching. It's charming, but mostly funny. It makes for an enjoyable 90 minutes. Great job by the lead actors Gunnar Björnstrand, Eva Dahlbeck and the beautiful Yvonne Lombard. But I would agree with others that the last 30 seconds of the film are questionable.Seen at home, in Toronto, on January 7th, 2006.82/100 (***)