This is a minor Bergman vehicle with some excellent acting, cinematography, etc. but nothing especially memorable about it to make it stand out from the crowd. The film is a story the parallels two lives--the older and more worldly photographer and her younger and more naive model. Through the course of the movie, both learn about love and relationships--particularly the older woman who learns to grown up and accept that an old relationship is over--and should be. The younger lady, in contrast, seems to be pretty much the silly girl she was at the beginning of the film. I think this is certainly meant to be a comment about age and wisdom.

While you may enjoy the film, there are certainly other Bergman films that are far more interesting, such as Wild Strawberries, The 7th Sign, Monika and Autumn Sonata, just to name a few.

This is a pretty nice film from Bergman's early work. It focuses on two women. One, a photographer, is a strong woman in her business, but is hanging on to a time when she was in love. She lost that love and sort of intimidates him into meeting her in a few days. She is getting older and more lonely and doesn't see life as worth much (really---in a Bergman film?). The other, played by Harriett Andersson is a young photographic model, has a fiery temper and she has driven off her lover. As she tries to get her bearings, she window shops, and is approached by a rich old man (a widower),who buys her an expensive dress, jewels, and shoes. They go to an amusement part where she has a great time while his strength begins to fizzle. They go back to his huge house and frolic like teenagers. They both have too much to drink and she is trying to seduce him when his daughter shows up and embarrasses both of them. She is stunned at how foolish she has been. The first woman meets her former lover, now a family man, and tries to rekindle the attraction. But then a series of events take place (I won't spoil the scene). The acting is excellent and there is actually a positive message that comes out of this.

I am a great admirer of Ingmar Bergman's work, there is always many things that are interesting. Not all his work are masterpieces, but so far I have not seen a film of his that I'd class as bad. Dreams is a very good movie, one of his most underrated without being up there with his finest. Some of the contrasting themes were perhaps more confidently explored in later films and the film could have been longer, but this is all a matter of preference. It is superbly directed and beautifully made, an oft-characteristic with Bergman's films. The music is hauntingly understated, while the dialogue is written in a meaningful and thought-provoking way and the story is austere, romantic, painful and ironic and observed in a masterful way. The characters are seen as selfish but compellingly real, while the acting has nothing that would strike anybody as questionable. Harriet Anderssen ties with Liv Ullman as the best of the female performers in Bergman's films, and her performance is utterly magnetic in every way possible, quite charming and very photogenic. Eva Dahlbeck- looking very classy and stunningly elegant- and Gunnar Bjornstrand provide great support, and Bergman himself even makes a cameo. All in all, an underrated film that does deserve to be seen more. 8/10 Bethany Cox