When disillusioned Swedish knight Antonius Block returns home from the Crusades to find his country in the grips of the Black Death, he challenges Death to a chess match for his life. Tormented by the belief that God does not exist, Block sets off on a journey, meeting up with traveling players Jof...
In the midst of a civil war, former violinists Jan and Eva Rosenberg, who have a tempestuous marriage, run a farm on a rural island. In spite of their best efforts to escape their homeland, the war impinges on every aspect of their lives.
Pretentious critic Cornelius is writing a biography on a famous cellist and to do some research he stays in the critic's house for a few days. He doesn't manage to get an interview with the man, but by talking to all the women who live with him, he comes to learn a lot about the musician's private...
Dr. Vogler's, a nineteenth-century traveling mesmerist and peddler of potions, magic is put to the test in Stockholm by the cruel, eminently rational royal medical adviser Dr. Vergérus.
Karin hopes to recover from her recent stay at a mental hospital by spending the summer at her family's cottage on a tiny island. Her husband, Martin, cares for her but is frustrated by her physical withdrawal. Her younger brother, Minus, is confused by Karin's vulnerability and his own budding...
Monika from Stockholm falls in love with Harry, a young man on holiday. When she becomes pregnant they are forced into a marriage, which begins to fall apart soon after they take up residence in a cramped little flat.
Andreas, a man struggling with the recent demise of his marriage and his own emotional isolation, befriends a married couple also in the midst of psychological turmoil. In turn he meets Anna, who is grieving the recent deaths of her husband and son. She appears zealous in her faith and steadfast in...
Early in the 20th century, middle-aged lawyer Fredrik Egerman and his young wife, Anne, have still not consummated their marriage, while Fredrik's son finds himself increasingly attracted to his new stepmother. To make matters worse, Fredrik's old flame Desiree makes a public bet that she can...
Devout Christians Töre and Märeta send their only daughter, the virginal Karin, and their foster daughter, the unrepentant Ingeri, to deliver candles to a distant church. On their way through the woods, the girls encounter a group of savage goat herders who brutally rape and murder Karin as...
Karl and Kristina Nilsson work on a farm in a cold and desolate area of 19th century rural Sweden. Growing privations, combined with increasing social and religious persecution, motivate the Nilssons and many of their neighbors to strike out for the United States. Following a treacherous ocean...
A Swedish immigrant family struggles to adapt to their new life on the American frontier during the second half of the 19th century amidst civil war, native uprising and the lure of gold in California.
After brothers Jonathan and Crusty pass away, they reunite in Nangijala, the land of eternal spring. Casting a long shadow over their world is the tyrant Tengil, ruler of the country Karmanjaka, where he’s building his new fortress up in the Ancient Mountains.
Traveling through an unnamed European country on the brink of war, sickly, intellectual Ester, her sister Anna and Anna's young son, Johan, check into a near-empty hotel. A basic inability to communicate among the three seems only to worsen during their stay. Anna provokes her sister by enjoying a...
After 15 years of marriage, David and Marianne have grown apart. David has had an affair with a patient of his and Marianne has got herself involved with her former lover Carl-Adam, who's also David's best friend. When she travels to Copenhagen to meet Carl-Adam, David takes the same train as she...
The devil has a stye in his eye, caused by the purity of a vicar's daughter. To get rid of it, he sends Don Juan up from hell to seduce the 20 year old Britt-Marie and to rob her of her virginity and her belief in love. She however can resist him and things get even turned around when Don Juan...
A Swedish housewife begins an adulterous affair with a foreign archaeologist. But he is an emotionally scarred man, a Jewish survivor from a concentration camp, consequently, their relationship will be painfully difficult.
Sailor Johannes Blom returns to his home port, after seven years at sea, to find that Sally, the girl he has been thinking of while away, is completely despondent. Seven years earlier, obstreperous Alexander Blom, brings his mistress Sally to live with him, his wife Alice, son Johannes, and crew,...
Because of an accident at a military drill the recruit Bengt loses his eyesight and becomes blind. He gets to live with relatives in the countryside and meets the young Ingrid. She falls in love with him but Bengt's bitterness also makes him blind to her attentions.
Stimulantia is a 1967 Swedish anthology film comprising eight episodes by eight different directors including Ingmar Bergman, Jörn Donner, Gustaf Molander and Vilgot Sjöman and starring among others Ingrid Bergman, Harriet Andersson, Gunnar Björnstrand, Lars Ekborg and Inga Landgré.
