Ingmar Bergman presents the battle of the sexes as a ramshackle, grotesque carnival in this, one of the late master's most vivid early works. The story of the twisted relationship between a turn-of-the-century traveling circus owner (Ake Gronberg) and his performer girlfriend (Harriet Andersson), Sawdust And Tinsel features dreamlike detours and twisted psychosexual power play that presage the director's Smiles Of A Summer Night and The Seventh Seal, works that would soon change the landscape of art cinema forever.