As a portrait of the battle between the sexes, Alf Sjöberg’s adaptation of August Strindberg’s notorious 1888 play is bitterly effective (men aren’t just from Mars and women from Venus—they’re armed to the teeth and ready for war), although also just a tad musty in its evocation of Victorian-era class divisions and the scandal that results when they are breached. However, the film’s true importance lies in Sjöberg’s captivating ability to take a talky play set in a single room and expand it out into truly cinematic territory. His subtle camera movements, framing, rack focus, and spatial mixing of flashbacks and dreams with the present tense brings the material to life on screen. It’s a case study in how to do theater-to-film translation right. (DVD)