Bergman - Revisited_Secrets of Women (Swedish: Kvinnors väntan) - 1952

The master of flashbacks – Ingmar Bergman in his 11th movie Secrets of Women (1952) explores Infidelity, boredom, frigidity, extra-maritial affairs, baby out of affairs, persistent unfaithfulness - creating disharmony amongst the couple, a lot of chit-chat about this and that, mostly of weather.

Four Women, Marta, Annette, Karin and Rakel are halting at the family summer house on a Swedish Island with their children and Marta's 17-year-old sister Maj. At some stage in time while waiting for their husbands, Martin, Fredrik, Paul and Eugen, who are all brothers and part of a family firm, to return home from a business trip in Copenhagen, the four women starts to carve up stories about their affairs and relationships which makes a deep impression on Marta's sister Maj, who is in love with Annette and Paul's 22-year-old son Henrik.

Incest?

While the women wait for their husbands in the cottage, the immediate question arises – how close are you to your husband? Or does all marriage ends with Good Morning-Goodbye-Good Night etc without any true intimacy or hearty discussions.

Not a very depressing work of Bergman like his later films

By the way even those days, the Swedes had this ethical notion not to drink and drive !