I know I'm not always super patient when it comes to older foreign filmmakers, but I can usually vibe with Ingmar Bergman. His knack for cold, steely atmospheres, hypnotically-paced stories, and haunting looks at the darker side of humanity all have a way of sticking with me, and Sawdust and Tinsel is no different.
This is one of his earlier movies, and, as such, you can tell that he hasn't quite perfected his formula just yet (the writing, in particular, is more scatterbrained than usual). But it's still a stark, powerful tale of sex, loyalty, and aspiration, as well as the mistakes that come with combining all three. And the grotesque circus setting really emphasizes both the plight of the characters and the chaos of their situation.
Shot by Sven Nykvist, in the very first of his many collaborations with Bergman, this one's also got a lot of the trademarks that you'd hope to see from these two: the gloomy imagery, the surreal moods, the subtle implications, the lack of sound. It actually feels like a silent film in many ways, with strong emotions and powerful visuals to match.
Grade: A-