SCANDINAVIAN SINS | Offscreen
THE VIRGIN SPRING
In medieval Sweden, a wealthy farmer's daughter is raped and murdered, only for the killers to unwittingly seek shelter on her family's farm, where her father (Max Von Sydow) wreaks a terrible vengeance. A lyrical study of faith and guilt, luminously shot by Sven Nykvist and famously reworked as The Last House on the Left.
I AM CURIOUS (BLUE)
Twin film of the better known I Am Curious (Yellow) - both alluding to the colours of the Swedish flag - this covers similar ground, but with more of an emphasis on relationships. Once again, the director mixes documentary footage with metafiction, while charismatic sex kitten Lena Nyman conducts vox pop interviews.
MOLLY
SUMMER WITH MONIKA
Teenage lovers Monika and Harry flee their lives of drudgery in Stockholm and take his father's boat to spend summer on nearby islands. But the idyll can't last. This groundbreaking early Bergman film was conceived as a vehicle for the phenomenal Harriet Andersson, whose fleeting nude scene made it a hit in America.
BEDSIDE MAZURKA
This amiable erotic farce from a more innocent era is the first in the series of "sengekanten" (Danish for "bedside") films, considered mainstream despite the saucy content. Series regular Ole Søltoft stars as a goofy, sexually inexperienced teacher whose pupils set out to find him a wife so he can be appointed headmaster.
ONE SUMMER OF HAPPINESS
A student spends summer on his uncle's farm, where he falls in love with a local girl. But the God-fearing community, ruled by a puritanical pastor, frowns on their liaison, and it all ends in tears. A nude swimming scene and glimpse of Ulla Jacobsson's breast caused an international furore on the film's release.
CHRISTINA LINDERBERG: THE ORIGINAL EYEPATCH WEARING BUTT KICKING MOVIE BABE (DIRECTOR'S CUT)
From Playboy pin-up to cult icon, Christina Lindberg appeared in over 20 films in the 1970s, including the Japanese "pinky violence" classic Sex & Fury and, her signature role, as a one-eyed angel of vengeance in the Swedish Thriller: A Cruel Picture. This documentary celebrates her career and unique screen presence.
Followed by a screening of Thriller: a Cruel Picture.
THRILLER: A CRUEL PICTURE (2ND SCREENING)
VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN
Leon Vitali (Lord Bullingdon from Barry Lyndon) plays the eager young scientist in this low-budget but unusually faithful adaptation of Mary Shelley's story. Black-lipped Per Oscarsson brings out the pathos of the monster before being shunned by his creator and taking his revenge by murdering Victor's loved ones.
THE DOLL
A lonely nightwatchman steals a display mannequin from a shop and installs her in his room. Is she an imaginary friend for him to talk to - or could she really be alive? Centred on a haunting performance by Per Oscarsson, this almost feels like a precursor to the 1987 fantasy Mannequin, but a lot sadder and more twisted.
CHAMPAGNE ROSE IS DEAD
Francis Matthews, best known for playing the eponymous gentleman sleuth in BBC's Paul Temple TV series, stars as Jason, a suave playboy and secret agent who travels around fighting bad guys and canoodling with beautiful women à la James Bond. This Swedish-Belgian-Dutch co-production was mostly shot around Amsterdam.
SPECIAL SCREENING: SENSUELA
The daughter of a Sami reindeer castrator (plot point!) saves a Nazi pilot who crashes in Lapland. After the war he takes her to Helsinki, where she has sex to music from Swan Lake and gets whipped in decadent cabarets. Sexploitation at its maddest, enhanced by retina-melting decor and jaw-dropping party scenes, this is one of Guy Maddin's favourite films, and a cult classic in the making.
THE SINFUL DWARF
Pint-sized Olaf uses a clockwork poodle to lure young women into his attic, where he shoots them full of heroin and pimps them out. Meanwhile, his gin-sozzled mother performs several demented cabaret numbers. This depraved slice of "dwarfsploitation" merits a place in the sleaze pantheon alongside Pink Flamingos.
IN THE SIGN OF THE VIRGIN
Two men are sent to the town of Petit-Bois, one to curb the lusts of delinquent boarding-school girls, the other to test-drive a new aphrodisiac. Chaos ensues. The first entry in the “Zodiac” series of six Danish sex films features kinky lesbian capers, no-holds-barred catfights, glittery dancing and an underwater orgy!
- ‹‹
- 2 of 2