"This is something rare in Swedish film production—an erotic comedy. Bergman has chosen the period at the end of the last century. By doing so he may have added to the piquancy of his tale and avoided the danger of being dated which always threatens a comedy. Smiles of a Summer Night is a very cleverly constructed film and the complicated intrigue, involving many people, has been clearly presented."


"I felt it would be a technical challenge to make a comedy with a mathematical pattern—man-woman, man-woman. Four couples. And then muddle them all up, and sort out the equation."


"Smiles of a Summer Night further develops themes from A Lesson in Love. It explores the frightening insight that it is possible for two people to love each other even when they find it impossible to live together. It also contains a bit of nostalgia, looking back at my own life and my relationship with my daughter, full of great confusion and sorrow."


"[This] film was a turning point for me in every way. When it was finished, it was a success everywhere. Svensk Filmindustri earned a huge amount of money on it...and so they gave me free rein. It was very strange. I didn't even know they had entered it at Cannes. I had no idea. I remember sitting on the toilet, reading the morning paper, when suddenly I saw the headline: 'Swedish Success at Cannes.' 'That's great,' I thought to myself. 'A Swedish success at Cannes.' Then I saw it was Smiles of a Summer Night, which they had taken to the festival without even asking me. I was so damned poor...and I was going with Bibi Andersson at the time. She was fairly well-off, doing all these film roles, so I borrowed money from her for the plane ticket. I went down to Cannes without asking anybody. And there they were, manager Carl Anders Dymling, and the manager for overseas affairs too. Svensk Filmindustri was suddenly behaving like an old spinster...who had never been asked to dance and suddenly finds herself surrounded by lots of young gentlemen. It was total confusion, but since the success of Smiles of a Summer Night, I've never had anybody interfering in my business. I've always done whatever I wanted. In a way it was a bit sad, because there wasn't always a Lorens Marmstedt, someone with whom I could discuss my scripts. Which I would have been happy to do—have a professional to discuss them with....I like it. I always have. If you think of the miserable conditions under which it was produced, it's amazing that it's so cheerful and carefree, with its lightly serious tone. I still find it funny."