Bergman's film debut begins with an introduction, a love letter to an unnamed small and calm village in Sweden. Notice how the narrator specifies that there is no train. Except for the bus carrying bad news, the village is isolated from the tormented worldly lifestyle. That unnamed village is, in reality, Hedemora, the only medieval city of Dalarna County. At first, as the narrator tells us the film is a comedy. In fact, at first, it is more precisely a romantic comedy having as pinnacle the waltz scene. But, the genius of Bergman regarding Crisis is how he seamlessly transforms it into a film-noir. The train portrays both literally and figuratively that change to a darker, grimmer story during the "laughing" scene. And, suddenly, the trees of Hedemora transform into the lampposts of the effervescent city, the splendid medieval architecture disappears.
