Yes, yes, The Stranger‘s been suggesting the shit out of SIFF’s Essential Art House festival, but there’s simply no way to stop now: Originally released in 1956, Ingmar Bergman’s Smiles of a Summer Night remains the richest and most intoxicating romantic comedy ever made. The plot—tracking the intricate romantic dealings of four Swedish couples at the end of the 19th century—was co-opted by Stephen Sondheim for A Little Night Music, but Bergman’s work is where the real magic lies. (If you don’t trust me, listen to Pauline Kael, who lauded Smiles as “one of film history’s great tragicomedies, a bittersweet view of the transience of human carnality.”) (SIFF Cinema at McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St, www.seattlefilm.org. 7:30 pm, $7.50/$9.)

David Schmader—former weed columnist and Stranger associate editor—is the author of the solo plays Straight and Letter to Axl, which he’s performed in Seattle and across the US. His latest...