''Eva'' is a 1948 Swedish

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Gustaf Molander Gustaf Harald August Molander (18 November 1888 – 19 June 1973) was a Swedish actor and film director. His parents were director Harald Molander, Sr. (1858–1900) and singer and actress Lydia Molander, ''née'' Wessler, and his brother was th ...

and written by Ingmar Bergman. It was adapted from Bergman's short story "Trumpetaren och vår herre".

Plot

As Bo (Birger Malmsten) returns home from military service, he flashes back to an episode in his childhood where he ran away from home and fell in with a band of performers. One of the performers has a daughter, a blind girl, and seeking to impress her Bo steals a locomotive. The train crashes and the girl is killed. This is first of many intrusions of death into Bo's life. We also see him dealing with his dying uncle and the body of a German soldier that has washed ashore. This is contrasted with life, as represented by his young lover Eva (Eva Stilberg) and eventually their son. In a Hitchcockian digression, Bo hallucinates killing his friend Göran (Stig Olin) to be with his alluring wife (Eva Dahlbeck). Bo and Eva escape to a remote island whose only other occupant is a widowed farmer. Eva goes into labor early and Bo and the farmer must fight the current to row her to a hospital. In a montage superimposed over Bo's rowing, we see images from throughout the film, seeming to suggest a struggle between life and death that is going on his mind. Upon his son's birth, Bo feels a resolution to his search for meaning in a cruel world.

Cast

Birger Malmsten Birger Malmsten (23 December 1920 – 15 February 1991) was a Swedish actor. He had many roles in Ingmar Bergman's films. Selected filmography * ''South of the Highway'' (1936) – Student (uncredited) * ' (1940) – Staff Member (uncredited ...

as Bo * Eva Stiberg as Eva *

Eva Dahlbeck Eva Elisabet Dahlbeck (8 March 1920 – 8 February 2008) was a Swedish stage, film, and television actress. She received a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film ''Brink of Life'' (1958). Dahlbeck retired ...

as Susanne *

Åke Claesson Åke Claesson (2 July 1889 – 29 May 1967) was a Swedish film actor. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1925 and 1962. Selected filmography * ''Två konungar'' (1925) - Carl Michael Bellman * '' Ulla, My Ulla'' (1930) - Carl Michae ...

as Fredriksson *

Wanda Rothgardt Wanda Rothgardt (12 March 1905 – 16 June 1950) was a Swedish stage and film actress.Soila p.84 Rothgardt was the daughter of the actress Edla Rothgardt. She married the actor Semmy Friedmann with whom she had a daughter Jane Friedmann who also ...

as Mrs. Fredriksson *

Hilda Borgström Hilda Teresia Borgström (13 October 1871 – 2 January 1953) was a Swedish stage and film actress. Biography Born in 1871 in Stockholm, Borgström made her film debut in 1912. She starred in leading parts in Victor Sjöström's silent fi ...

as Maria * Stig Olin as Göran *

Inga Landgré Inga Linnéa Landgré (born ''Lundgren''; 6 August 1927) is a Swedish actress who has worked in theatre, television and films since the 1940s. Early life and career Inga Landgré was born in Stockholm on 6 August 1927. Her father was a struggli ...

as Frida *

Olof Sandborg Olof Sandborg (April 30, 1884 in Göteborg – March 26, 1965 in Stockholm) was a Swedish stage and film actor. He won the Eugene O'Neill Award in 1962. Filmography * '' Blodets röst'' (1913) * '' Lady Marions sommarflirt'' (1913) * ''Svär ...

as Berglund *

Carl Ström Carl Ström (18 June 1888 – 18 November 1957) was a Swedish film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1923 and 1955. Selected filmography * '' Iron Will'' (1923) * '' Gustaf Wasa'' (1928) * ''Cavaliers of the Crown'' (1930) ...

as Johansson * Sture Ericson as Josef Friedel

References

External links

* 1948 films 1948 drama films 1940s Swedish-language films Swedish black-and-white films Films based on short fiction Films based on works by Ingmar Bergman Films directed by Gustaf Molander Films with screenplays by Ingmar Bergman Rail transport films Films set on islands Films set in the Baltic Sea Films scored by Erik Nordgren Swedish drama films 1940s Swedish films {{1940s-drama-film-stub