''One Summer of Happiness'' ( sv, Hon dansade en sommar - She danced for a summer) is a 1951 Swedish film by director

Arne Mattsson Arne Mattsson (2 December 1919 – 28 June 1995) was a Swedish film director. Biography Born in Uppsala, the early films of Mattsson were mostly comedies. His biggest success was '' Hon dansade en sommar'' (1951, aka. ''One Summer of Happiness ...

, based on the 1949 novel ''Sommardansen'' (''The Summer Dance'') by Per Olof Ekström. It was the first Swedish film to win the

Golden Bear The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin. History The winn ...

at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

. It was also nominated for the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

at the 1952

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

. Today, the film is mainly known for its nude scenes, which caused much controversy at the time and, together with

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film director, screenwriter, Film producer, producer and playwright. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known ...

's ''

Summer with Monika ''Summer with Monika'' ( sv, Sommaren med Monika) is a 1953 Swedish romance film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman, and starring Harriet Andersson and Lars Ekborg. It is based on Per Anders Fogelström's 1951 novel of the same title. It was ...

'' (1953), spread the image of Swedish "free love" around the world.

Plot

The film tells the story about the university student Göran who spends a summer on his uncle's farm, where he meets the young Kerstin. They instantly fall in love, but Kerstin is ruled by very strict relatives, so they must hide their love story from everyone, not the least from the extremely strict

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

. They experience an intense summer together, and Göran dreads the idea of returning to university in the autumn. A twist of fate changes their lives forever.

Cast

Ulla Jacobsson Ulla Jacobsson (23 May 1929 – 20 August 1982) was a Swedish actress. She had the lead role in One Summer of Happiness (1951) and played the only female speaking role in the film '' Zulu'' (1964). Early life Jacobsson was born in Mölndal, ...

as Kerstin *

Folke Sundquist Folke Sundquist (4 November 1925 – 13 January 2009) was a Swedish film actor. He appeared in 21 films between 1951 and 1968. He starred part in the 1951 ''One Summer of Happiness'' (1951), which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Internatio ...

as Göran *

Edvin Adolphson Gustav Edvin Adolphson (25 February 1893 – 31 October 1979) was a Swedish film actor and director who appeared in over 500 roles. He made his debut in 1912. He appeared with Ingrid Bergman in ''Only One Night'' (1939), and is noted for his ...

as Anders Persson *

Irma Christenson Irma Christenson (14 January 1915 – 21 February 1993) was a Swedish actress notable for her many roles in the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, and in many films. Christenson was born in the small village of Hunnebostrand. She studied at ...

as Sigrid *

John Elfström Per Johan "John" Hilding Elfström (20 April 1902 – 27 March 1981) was a Swedish film actor who appeared in more than 120 films. He was born in Ovansjö, Sweden and died in Täby, Sweden. He starred in the Åsa-Nisse series of films. Sel ...

as The Vicar *

Nils Hallberg Nils Hallberg (18 September 1921 – 8 October 2010) was a Swedish actor. He appeared in 90 films between 1934 and 1974. Selected filmography * '' Andersson's Kalle'' (1934) * ''The Boys of Number Fifty Seven'' (1935) * '' The Lady Becomes ...

as Nisse *

Gunvor Pontén Gunvor Margareta Pontén (11 February 1929 – 16 February 2023) was a Swedish actress who graduated from Dramatens elevskola in 1954. She appeared in over 50 films and television shows starting in 1949. She starred in the film '' Leva på 'Hop ...

as Sylvia *

Berta Hall Berta Hall (21 September 1909 – 6 June 1999) was a Swedish film actress. She appeared in 18 films between 1942 and 1988. Biography Berta Hall was the daughter of Carl Hall (1862-1929), owner and editor of the newspaper Norra Bohuslän. He ...

as Anna *

Axel Högel Axel Högel (1884–1970) was a Swedish stage and film actor. Kwiatkowski p.73 He was a prolific character actor in the theatre and in Swedish cinema. Selected filmography * '' Johan Ulfstjerna'' (1923) * ''Ingmar's Inheritance'' (1925) * '' Kan ...

as Kerstin's Grandfather

Reception

The film caused much international controversy, because of a

nude swimming Nude swimming is the practice of swimming without clothing, whether in natural bodies of water or in swimming pools. A colloquial term for nude swimming is ''skinny-dipping''. In both British and American English, to swim means "to move through ...

sequence and a love scene which included a close-up of Ulla Jacobsson's breasts, but also because of its very anti-clerical message by portraying a local priest as the main villain. So, in spite of its awards, the film was banned in Spain and several other countries, and was not widely released in the United States until 1955, although it was showing in San Francisco as early as October 1953.

Awards

;Won * 2nd Berlin International Film Festival -

1952 Cannes Film Festival The 5th Cannes Film Festival was held from 23 April to 10 May 1952. As in the previous three festivals, the entire jury of this festival was made up of French persons, with Maurice Genevoix as the Jury President. The Grand Prix of the Festival w ...

- Best Music. ;Nominated * 1952 Cannes Film Festival -

References

External links