To Joy

To Joy (Till glädje, 1950) — watch online on iFILM an early Ingmar Bergman, shot in Sweden when the director was 31. Martin, a violinist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, is convinced he was made for the soloist's chair. His wife Marta plays in the same ensemble. For now.

The marriage doesn't break over infidelity or money. Martin's real problem is the gap between his ambition and his actual ability — and his refusal to close the gap by revising the ambition. Bergman tells the story through flashbacks, framing the whole thing inside a live performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Victor Sjöström, a founding figure of Swedish cinema, plays the conductor.

This is Bergman before the God questions and the chess-playing Death — closer to the ground, sharper for it. Watch To Joy (1950) online on iFILM.