What It's About:

On Midsummer’s Eve, an illicit love blooms and then withers on the vine between domineering lady of privilege Miss Julie (Bjork) and coarse social climber Jean (Palme), a servant in her father’s mansion. As each reflects on the past, their acrimonious tryst turns tragic.

Why I Love It:

: Ingmar Bergman may be the king of Swedish cinema, but he borrowed much of his shimmering visual style from mentor Alf Sjoberg, whose elegant, innovative adaptation of August Strindberg’s caustic play ranks among his most accomplished works. Bjork, playing the high-born woman taught to hate men by her proto-feminist mother, is splendid opposite Palme’s misanthropic valet. And Sjoberg’s deep-focus imagery and unusual approach—folding past and present into the same frame—bring an otherworldly vibe to all the gloomy reminiscences.