Stockholm After Dark (Region B) Blu-ray ***Preorder*** 11/23

Films included: A Woman’s Face, June Night, While the Door was Locked, While the City Sleeps and Hidden in the Fog.

From the late 1930s onwards, Sweden became a prolific producer of crime films increasingly characterised by the noir style that eventually found popularity all over the world in the post-war period. They featured some of Sweden’s most recognisable stars in the likes of Ingrid Bergman and Eva Henning, and were made with the involvement of some of its greatest writers and directors, including Hasse Ekman, Gustaf Molander and even Ingmar Bergman. Five standout examples of Swedish noir are collected here: A Woman’s Face, June Night, While the Door was Locked, While the City Sleeps and Hidden in the Fog.

In A Woman’s Face, Ingrid Bergman stars as a disfigured blackmailer whose facial scarring has led her to become embittered and violent – until she is given an opportunity to change her ways. In June Night, Bergman plays a woman who is shot by her lover and, following a trial, flees to Stockholm in the hope of starting a new life. Directed by Hasse Ekman (Girl with Hyacinths), While the Door Was Locked follows the residents of a single apartment block over one fateful night – a night that will end in tragedy. Based on a story concept by Ingmar Bergman, While the City Sleeps profiles a psychopathic young criminal as his gang of teen delinquents begins to fall apart. Finally, Hidden in the Fog stars Eva Henning as a woman suspected of murdering her husband. 

Sweden’s classic crime films bear all the hallmarks of film noir – expressionistic cinematography, chiaroscuro lighting, femme fatales, cops, criminals and doomed romance – but blend them with a distinctly Scandinavian sensibility, exploring their fascinating social and sexual themes with an unusual frankness. The Masters of Cinema Series is thrilled to present this selection of Swedish noir from astonishing restorations by the Swedish Film Institute.