After that last piece on Bo A. Vibenius 1975 smutfest-oddity Breaking Point, I was sent this clipping taken from the Borås newspaper announcing the movie's premiere at the Olympia Cinema. That's where the movie premiered upon it's release after the censors had their way with the movie. Notice that the ad also makes sure to point out that the movie was Banned by the censors - now released, and that it played twice a night 18.30 and 20.30 - so if one viewing wasn't enough there was always a chance to catch the later screening...
In some great way that simple, minimalistic ad sums up the movie perfectly with it's naked chick, and Bob Bellings gawking at her through his glasses.
And about those edits that where made to the movie... well there was actually only a total of approximately eighty seconds taken out of the film... Strange as Thriller - a cruel picture 1974 lost a lot more content to the dreaded scissors than Breaking Point ever did.
Breaking Point Directed by: Bo A. Vibenius (as Ron Silberman Jr.) Sweden, 1975 Thriller/Erotic, 95 min
Bo A. Vibenius - the director most famous for that terrific Swedish exploitation flick Thriller – a cruel picture 1974 is a true rebel of Swedish cinema. If you think that Thriller was the ultimate sexploitation flick to ever come out of our cold, dark country, well then think again, Thriller was merely an appetiser before the incredibly dark, sinister and provocative Breaking Point.
During twelve days in December 1974 director Bo Arne Vibenius set out to make a second movie that would break all exploitation movies that had gone before it. With the controversy of Thriller – a cruel picture 1974 in hindsight, Vibenius took things even further than ever as he once again set out to produce a cheap, disturbing erotic thriller with explicit content as that was the grim reality his past failure Hur Marie träffade Fredrik 1969 (underestimated masterpiece really), had taught him. Make it fast, make it cheap and make it gritty! Breaking Point is definitely all those things, as well as provocative, surreal, misogynistic and an utter orgy of perversion.
Buckle up because here’s your dirty quick fix of Bo. A. VibeniusBreaking Point: A sexual predator is stalking the streets of Stockholm – even though it’s never said, it’s Stockholm – and the city is starting to plunge into panic. Office worker Bob Bellings [Andreas Bellis] is provoked and taunted by his young female co-workers. The news reports on the sadistic sex murder that has taken place and they also declare a state of emergency - all inhabitants will be given hand arms to defend themselves against the perverted murderer roaming the streets of Stockholm, and women are encouraged to let the predator rape them so that they at least get to keep their lives. After being sexually taunted by a female co-worker, Bellings stalks a woman he’s seen in a tube station [Barbro Klingered as Irene Billing] and has sex with her. At home Billings spends time playing with his very modest model railway set, before going to work and being taunted yet again. His constant frustration is vented in a series of pornographic encounters with various women with various results – don’t fool yourself, that’s exactly what it is, there are no adult actors brought in for the inserts here, it’s all the real deal with the cast doing their own flesh stunts - some of his encounters come out for the better, some lead to death. This is also where Bellings starts having some fantastically surreal and hilarious daydreams that bring a baleful humorous edge to the material. Bellings receives his legally permitted weapon and spends some time target practicing before have further relations with strange women. Building up to the climax, Bellings is kidnapped by a band of bank robbers and driven out into the woods under gun threat, but Bob the vigilante whips out his handgun and takes them all out before finally shooting down a police helicopter that has tailed them from the city. Finally there’s a surprise ending that you will never see coming, as after taking out the police chopper, Bellings drives to the airport to greet his wife and child back from their vacation abroad. The final line of dialogue leaves the audience with a last chuckle “You know that nothing ever happens in this shit town!”
Filled with provocative and politically incorrect irony, hardcore sexual scenes and ominous characters, and the alternative title Breaking Point – Pornographic Thriller, the movie was obviously banned instantly by the censors (remember Sweden have the oldest board in the world) and damned for its vile content. But this most likely didn’t come as a surprise to the cast and crew, as the most of them used pseudonyms for their parts on the movie. Then again, controversy was probably what Vibenius was after, as there’s no way this movie would have played in its intended form outside of the smut parlours. And if the officials say that your movie is an abomination and a depraved piece of trash, that’s better promotion than nothing at all. The movie was later released after a series of cuts were made, and held its Swedish Premiere in a small town called Borås hidden away out in the middle of nowhere. Breaking Point was never screened on the cinema screens of Stockholm.
There’s no arguing that Breaking Point is one screwed up, funny and distressing movie, and probably one of the oddest pieces of sexploitation cinema made in Sweden. At a first glimpse it may only come off as a sleazy little piece of Grindhouse cinema, which it indeed is, but at the same time you could look at it from an analytical standing point and come up with some pretty interesting ideas, and as this hasn’t been done before, that’s exactly what I intend to do with the film. I’ll spare you the usual rant about how art house cinema gets away with graphic sex, sadistic violence and nihilistic storylines, while the movies made thirty years later are still condemned as filth, and get right to the breakdown of Breaking Point.
If you want analytical critique of this film, there’s a lot of fascinating conclusions to come to, and that's without getting into the obvious Freudian stuff, phallic imagery and all that – but keep in mind that this movie is shot as a cheap, dirty thriller, and these are only my reflections upon the movie and not the true facts and process of thought behind the movie. It’s all in interpretation and instead of giving the movies of the abstract and art house a good going over why not apply that line of thought to a piece of trash. Analysis and interpretation can argue for or against anything, even it we just make it all up as we go along.
In my reading of Breaking Point I choose to interpret the movie as the mental breakdown of tedious common life, or a midlife crisis of Billings if you want to. In this breakdown/crisis, Bob Bellings snaps and goes over the edge into the deep side of the pool and drowns in a vortex of sexual fantasy and depravation. That’s what the movie shows us, but does it really happen?
It’s quite apparent in retrospect that Bellings doesn’t want to be an adult, he can’t cope with adult situations, and his relationship towards women is the same as that of a child/adolescent male. When he can’t understand or control them he vent’s his lack of power by taking things beyond the breaking point by murdering and raping the females around him – but in reality Bob it all takes place in his mind and not in real life. The whole movie is actually one long erotic fantasy.
First lets take a look at the actual happenings of the movie, Murder, rape, kidnapping and fight with the police... it looks like an open shut case, but is Bob Bellings actually the psychopathic rape murder that we are shown throughout the movie? Well I prefer to think that he isn’t the killer rapist at all. Let’s take a look at some key scenes to see where this can go.
The opening murder is all shot in a suggestive manner, no identities are exposed, and no characters are presented. We don’t really know that Bellings is the date rape murderer at this point, and the scene sets a dark grim tone that will saturate throughout the movie. But not until after the introduction of his workspace – and what a boring place indeed, it’s easily to see why one would need some sinister fantasies to lighten up those monotone tasks – do we meet Bob Bellings and the taunting women around him. When Bob hears about the vile deed on the news – delivered with some powerful misogynistic dialogue – most women want to be raped, let him rape you, but the asshole has to stop killing them - he imagines taking on that role. Yes imagines, as that’s my main take on the film. When he hears about the rape killing, he starts fantasising about what he can do if he where to take on the role of this character the news are constantly reporting on. The only woman that he actually does have a sexual relationship with is the woman who he meets in the subway station. Then exchange glances with each other and an unspoken deal is struck. This is why their encounter is non-violent, it is agreed on commonly. The same goes for the hitchhiker, it’s mutual and Bellings doesn’t kill her, instead he get’s a little commemorative trophy of their encounter that returns several times as a gag in the movie.
Now within the movies actual narrative space, there’s the possibility that these women also watched the news report encouraging women to let the “asshole” rape them hence saving their lives. So they play along, let Bob “rape” them without any resistance and get to keep their lives. If one where take the narrative line of discussion further, these two women are quite possibly part of the 82% the government official climbed in the first news report want to be raped. This is why the young blonde girl dies – she resists Bellings, stabs him in the leg, and he chases her in his car until she crashes into the barnyard and dies in an explosion of flames... but again, did it really happen?
To argue my claim, I’ll bring in all the tricks of the trade when it comes to movie analysis, the mishaps, the images, and the academic argument that the images say it all. In the encounter with the woman he follows from the subway you see through the panorama windows that there is mist outside, mist that indicates a dreamlike setting, a fantasy, an unreal situation. It is quite possible that the sexual encounter with the woman in the subway is merely Bellings erotic fantasy as he rides the subway home. The same goes for the hitchhiker. The light plays through the windshield giving an almost angel like appearance to the hitcher, who then gets undressed and seduces Bellings in a triple X rated male fantasy. Picking up random woman and having intercourse with them. The second encounter, with the woman who stabs him... this is also quite possibly an erotic fantasy with the explicit daydreams of the subway woman and hitcher in mind. Although this one is triggered as he stands on the side of the road watching the firemen extinguish the burning car and barnyard. In Bellings mind he creates a scenario involving himself as the rapist, which lead to the accident he is watching. Like a child he makes up a story that leads up to the events he is witnessing. The session with the co worker is obviously an erotic daydream and the three incidents mentioned above can all be considered to be such too if one comes to the insight that Bellings has regressed mentally to the state of a child, or even a preadolescent boy.
To make this conclusion you have to accept Bellings breakdown as the key to regressing to the mental state between that of a child trapped between innocence and adolescent sexual curiosity. In his complex state it’s the innocent child that evokes the imaginary images of the women as Madonna character – yes that the way they all are introduced, the halo like burst of colour in the subway, the glow from the sun through the car windshield, and it’s the adolescent part that plunges him into the sexual fantasy. In some ways it’s the classic Madonna and the whore paradox all over again. Children are commonly ascribed these traits, the possibility of seeing things that the logically thinking adult can’t. In horror films it’s a well used trait, and even in drama in movies like Wim Wender’sWings of Desire 1987, only the children can see and share the world with the angels that adults cant see. This is also the case with Bob. We all know the anxiety of preadolescence with an awakening sexuality, that’s why all those silly comedies like American Pie 1999, Porky’s 1982 and John LandisAnimal House 1978 all have one main goal. Finding the courage to take the step from fantasizing about sex to actually getting laid. This is exactly where Bob is mentally after seeing the women at various occasions thoughout the movie. He see’s them and then engages in his mental erotic fantasies. Tainting his fantasies are also the current events of the murderer, in his confused state, he also ascribes himself with that identity. But as you see it only happens in his head, not in reality. The befuddled adolescent parts of Bob’s psyche are what make him have these strong erotic fantasies.
To further the claim that he regresses into the state of a teenage child, we can look at three individual scenes, the model trains, the kidnapping of the child and his own kidnapping and escape from the police. The model trains, are more than just a metaphor for the circular life that Bellings lives, when he drives his train round, round on the spartan setup that he has, you can see this as a metaphor for his life, filled with routine and daily groove, which becomes more significant when his wife and child return. Those of you who have a little family out there IRL know how fast routine and tradition become part of normal adult life. And that’s fine as this is how our psyche wants things to be. We don’t want change, we want safe, comforting routine so that we at least can feel that we are in control. This is why people flip and snap when say the buss that they always ride to work doesn’t arrive at their stop on time. It breaks the normal routine, our daily comfort zone. Anyhow, with the trains as a metaphor for circular life in general, you can also look at the joy he finds in these games and toys. He smiles the happiest smile of the whole film when he sits alone in the darkness of his presumably basement cranking the generator that drives the train back and forth. He’s like a child with his toys. Also he spends time in bed reading model train catalogues, also a signifier that he likes playing with his trains, and possibly an indicator that Bellings never was allowed to play with these kind of toys as a child, and therefore he’s revisiting his lost childhood as an adult.
One of the most disturbing scenes of the movie is found when Bellings stalks the children outside the schoolyard. With the knowledge of his sexual depravity in mind, because that’s what we know in real time, the insight of the analysis comes after completion of the film, we fear the worst when he kidnaps the little girl from the yard. But instead of a creepy scene we are shown a joyful scene where Bellings and the child drive out into the woods only to binge down on a bag of sweets and have a great time together. When the child says that she wants’ to go home, Bob without any hesitation drives her back to the city. This scene also adds to the claim that Bellings wants’ to be a child, in his child state they do what all kids love the most, eat sweets without it being Saturday, the normal day for kids to be given sweets. Well at least in Sweden, and it’s a Swedish movie so that’s all in the cultural references. Once again, Bob becomes a child.
The kidnapping of Bob, well hasn’t every male imagined a scenario where they come off as the hero of the day? For christ's, sake that what all those war, cowboy's and indians, and cops'n'robbers games we played as kids where all about. That’s exactly what happens here. The freaky erotic daydreams have built up guilt within Bob, and he redeems himself by saving the day. He imagines that he takes out the “Bad Guys” and clears the guilt he has built up during the film. And it’s the same guilt that comes full circle to bite him in the ass when he takes down the helicopter. By making amends, he also clears the last traces of his fantasy by shooting the metaphoric chopper. It's metaphoric because it symbolises the "law"/his guilt coming for him. Now he has a clean slate, the bad guys are dead, the lid is sealed on his imaginative crimes against women and once he’s put an end to his week of fantasy he can return to being and adult and reunite with his family. Finally getting get back into that routine groove we call life. That final line of dialogue all confirms that the entire events of the movie all took place in Bellings head, nothing ever happens in his tedious life, therefor in his separation from his family he engaged in one long sexual, action filled fantasy.
Bob Bellings is played by Andreas Bellis under the pseudonym Anton Rothschild. Bellis was, and still is, a cinematographer - it was he who shot VibeniusThriller – a cruel picture. He’s mostly worked on Greek moviea for the last copule of decades, with among others Island of Perversion 1975, and .com for Murder 2002 director Nico Mastorakis. In 1982, Bellis actually won an award for best cinematography on Hristoforos HristofisRoza 1982. The gun dealer is played by the great late Per-Axel Arosenius, who also starred in VibeniusThriller – a cruel picture, Torgny Wickman’s Skräcken har 1000 Ögon (Fear has 1000 Eyes) 1970, Arne Mattson’s excellent Smutsiga Fingrar (Dirty Fingers) 1973 and Damen i Svart (The Lady in Black) 1958, and Alfred Hitchcock’sTopaz 1969. His great acting career came to an abrupt ending when he took his own life in a protest against Swedish tax authorities. But that tragic story is something completely different and perhaps we’ll return to that on a later occasion.
Three things make this movie stand out among the usual smut that is associated with this strange little niche. First the completely warped comedic dialogue of the movie. There are some hilarious moments in the movie that add another level to the movie above the sleaziness of it all. It obvious that someone had a real great time writing dialogue that relates to the government experts theories on women and rape, the stolen shift stick, and that enigmatic final line. Second, it’s a splendid fantasy daydream without any other counterparts but perhaps Tetsuji Takechi’s pinku cinema Hakujitsumu [original 1965, remake 1981] – this with my idea’s of it all being Bellings imagination of course, otherwise it’s just a freaky little sleaze flick. Finally the poster art for the film. That poster drawn by Hans Arnold is excellent and among one of my all time favourite pieces of poster art ever. I love Arnold’s stuff, and we own several of his original pieces that hang on our living room wall. Dark, brooding, sensual in a combination that equals the likes of say H.R. Giger and Francis Bacon mixed up with early underground comix art.
So if you are into seedy action exploitation flicks with a twist that give you the whole nine yards and bar no holds, then this movie is definitely something that you need to seek out, but be warned, it is potent stuff. Now I'm exhausted after that and feel that I need to go take a shower and get some rest...
Image: Shot in Widefilm 1.66:1, the only know sources available are taken from the old Swedish rental tape. (Or the restored bootleg version available on the Internet.) Although there is a rumour somewhat confirmed by movie journalist Stefan Nylén in conversation with French director Gaspar Noë, that he watched the film with a French Dub on video in his youth. So somewhere out there, there may be a print without the cursed burned in subtitles, and a perfect source for a hybrid redux that could become the new grail fans of alternative cinema can search for.
Audio: Originally made with optical mono, the varied sources present a stereo track, with the English dub and burned in Swedish subtitles.
Here's the opening titles, and see if you recognise the opening theme... remember that that movie was also about things not quite being what they seemed...
Sweden, Sweden, Sweden… What ever happened to the movies of Sweden. This country produced some of the most interesting directors, movies and actors ever, and then it all went to the shitter. Swedish movies of today have no edge, no charm, they are all either detective movies with the same five actors over and over again, shitty comedies trying to recapture some of the brilliance of the seventies cuteness – unfortunately with the same actors of then too, debut features focusing on immigrant culture clashes or disturbed abstract art fuck too dark and introvert to ever gain wider recognition or make an impression as on lee the director has an slight idea of what the heck he’s trying to say. Who actually green lights these films, and where's the gambles?
I have news for all of them; it’s all been done so much better some twenty-thirty-forty years ago. There’s an ignorance among the young audiences of today that is disturbing. People do not know their own celluloid inheritance, they sigh at Bergman’s name, calling him boring, they have no idea of directors like Arne Mattsson, Torgny Wickman, Bo Arne Vibenius, Bo Widerberg, Gunnar Höglund, Jan Halldoff, not forgetting our own flock of low budget exploitation masters Mats Helge Olsson, Peter Borg and many others.
Yeah I keep going back here and saying the same thing, many directors where lost in Bergman’s shadow, but it’s important that we always push forth these guys because they are the alternative directors, the directors that need to be profiled here in Sweden. I can’t understand when I meet who say that love the American and European Goth, Crime, Sleaze and Sexploitation flicks but haven’t even seen the Swedish pieces. The ones we need to embrace…
Most audiences of today don’t know shit. They go to the cinema, eat their fucking popcorn and all become professional movie critics, not knowing anything of the astonishing movies shot in and around Stockholm. If you don’t know background, then you really shouldn’t try to shoot your mouth of, if your frame of reference only goes as far back as the last Ulf Malmros/ Kjell Sundvall / Josef Fares flick. (Decent enough directors, but not my cup of tea)
One of my ambitions in life is to somehow establish a Swedish film museum that isn’t all about the great Ingmar Bergman (with no sarcasm attached – Bergman was the greatest and there’s no denying that and he would be featured), but also showcase these other fantastic craftsmen and artists in the light that they need to be exposed in. Even if it’s only a six-month exhibition in town, it needs to be done. Every country should have it’s own movie museum to enlighten those with an interest for trivia and facts. Yeah, a shrine to domestic cinema geekness.
Thriller - A cruel film directed by Bo Arne Vibenius under his Alfred Fridolinski pseudonym – and most of the crew used pseudonyms on this one too - is a provocative, wonderful example of the golden age of that genre warping period during the seventies. For sure, this movie wouldn’t ever be made today, and considering that Sweden has the oldest board of censors in the world, established already in 1911 – give a man a break will you! They just invented cinema and some beurocratic sod wants to review everything that is shown already… it says a lot about Sweden – it’s no wonder that Thriller ran into trouble for it’s violent and sexual content. When it was screened to the board on the fourth of April 1973, they banned it there and then. It’s often it’s claimed that Thriller was the first movie to be completely banned in Sweden, but that’s not entirely true, as this honour goes to Arne Ragneborn and his 1957 film Det Händer I Natt (It happens tonight). Ragneborn was so outraged by the decision that he never directed another movie again. Just over a year later Thriller was up for review again, this time in shorter form, with a new English dialogue soundtrack, and once again they hammered a no go ban on the movie. But Vibenius, being the clever guy that he is, had already set about selling the movie overseas with the moniker ”Banned in Sweden” a genius stroke as Sweden was supposedly the most sexually liberated place in the world, and a movie banned there... The cunning promotion would eventually pay off and the film would hit the States right in the gonads. Supposedly it’s this shorter overseas version, under the name They Called her One Eye that was submitted to the board a third time mid 1974. (The English dialogue version was also the second one presented to them) With a whole suggestion of scenes to be axed from the film (the infamous eyeball scene, two of the revenge/murders and the strangulation of Heinz Hopf in the final reel – the hard core sex scenes where all ready out. And no, that's not Lindberg getting porked, but frequently hired adult actors of the time who Vibenius brought in for the parts.) and somewhere near 22minutes shorter than that initial version the movie was finally released with the highest age limit possible to the theatres. It only played for about a week before disappearing from the screens. Although the movie did return during the video boom, and it did have some success overseas in the States as They Call Her One Eye. A movie that is among one of Tarantino’s favourites and his affection for Lindberg hasn’t gone unnoticed over here.
Thriller is a fascinating movie, and there’s no way you can get around it. Being a rather uncomplicated rape-revenge movie it see’s Christina Lindberg [Gustav Wiklund’sExponerad (Exposed) 1971, Torgny Wickman’s Anita – ur en tonårsflickas dagbok (Anita: Swedish Nymphet) 1973 and Norifumi Suzuki’sSex and Fury 1973. Lindberg also reprised her role as Frigga in the underground classic Sex, Lögner & Videovåld 2000] as Frigga - Madeleine in the English Language version – who’s been mute since her uncle molested her as a child. The choice of keeping the character a mute was a brilliant decision as Lindberg’s delivery of dialogue wasn’t her greatest skill. She lives with her parents on their farm and as she one day stands looking when the next buss to town goes by the sleaze-bag Tony (Heinz Hopf – Arne Mattsson’s great Mördaren – En helt vanlig person 1967, and Smutsiga Fingrar (Dirty Fingers) 1973 – Where’s the friggin' DVD release of that one? Also in Wicklund’sExponerad against Lindberg and Bergman’s Award Winning Fanny and Alexander 1982, to name a few of the many fantastic movies he starred in.) offers her a ride into town. He takes her to his pad, and after getting her drunk to the point where she passes out he gets her addicted to heroin. Frigga tries to escape on several occasions, only to have Tony scar her for life, and in the process create one of the most fantastic iconic images ever; after stabbing her in the eye with a scalpel (supposedly the eye of a real corpse, hence the nauseating realistic scene) Frigga takes to wearing that hot eye patch over the gaping hole that once was her eye. Tony the creep now has leverage over Frigga as he forces her into prostitution in return for each day’s fix of smack. A variety of sordid customers come and go after having their way with Frigga, who is all alone in this dark world of extortion and grimy sex. Her only friend Sally [Solveig Andersson – from Torgny Wickman’s filmsSkräcken har 1000 ögon 1970 and Eva – den utstötta 1969] tells Frigga of the vile letter that Tony has sent to Frigga's parents telling them that she wants’ nothing to do with them anymore. This letter led her parent’s devastated and committing suicide. This is the spark that is needed for Frigga to start planning her revenge. As each customer pays her, she pockets a small percentage of the cash herself and pays for karate, driving and shooting lessons. As each day goes by she’s one step closer to taking her revenge, and after Sally dies it’s payback time. One by one she tracks her exploiters down and kills them with that fantastic stone cold look on her eye patched face, and yes, even the hot lesbian [Despina Tomazani - who is also in Singapore Sling 1990 director Nikos Nikolaidi'sThe Sweet Bunch 1983] gets a shotgun to the gut. Even the cops try to stop this one-woman murder machine culminating in that amazing eight minute slow-motion sequence of carnage. Finally after asking a hot dog vendor [Vibenius in a cameo] for directions, Frigga stands face to face with the fiendish Tony who first is shot in the kneecap, an IRA favourite, and then slowly decapitated in an ingenious device consisting of a rope, a horse and a bucket of apples.
There’s no way around it, Thriller is an amazing and impressive movie, that definitely stands out like a sore thumb in the eye of every cineaste – in a masochistic and pleasurable way that is.
The slow pace, the sparse use of dialogue, that stunning eye gouging, the sleaziness, the graphic hardcore inserts that leave nothing to the imagination, the gritty violence and the overall cynicism of the movie make it a masterpiece unlike any other. It’s simply one of those must see movies, and I still find it entertaining upon each revisiting – Christmas day night, a perfect ending to a stressful day. It was quite a while ago I last saw it before that, back in 2004 when it resurfaced on DVD, but back in the nineties I saw it quite a few times after a true cineaste I know (It’s you again Stefan) actually spent time with Vibenius reassembling Thriller, and his third feature, the completely insane and splendid Breaking Point 1975, to their original form. Needless to say many party nights ended up as movie nights watching old Swedish psychotronica – Thriller and Breaking Point being the new found lost treasures. Like a modern day ring virus, You have to see this film! was probably one of the most common drunken slurs when meeting fellow friends of mind-expanding movies out on the town. I’m almost certain that the Synapse DVD is from the same source as that was the version they assembled on VHS. I also received an original Swedish poster, which still is one of the most cherished entries in my movie poster collection.
So how come Bo Arne Vibenius, who had worked on several award winning movies; with Ingmar Bergman - Persona 1966 and Vargtimmen (Hour of the Wolf) 1968, Kjell Grede’s Hugo och Josefin 1967, Gunnar Höglund'sRaskenstam 1983, Bo Widerberg’s Mannen på Taket (Man on the Roof) 1976, Vilgot Sjöman’sTabu 1977, - all very good and respected productions - become the man responsible for one of, if not THE most renown Swedish exploitation flick ever?
After writing and directing his debut feature, the children’s movie Hur Marie träffade Fredrik, åsnan Rebus, kängurun Ploj och… (How Marie met Fredrik, Rebus the Donkey, Ploj the kangaroo and…) 1969, the anticipated success failed to come even though the movie received decent reviews at the time. The movie, in many ways before it’s time as it’s narrative is told from the children’s point of view, and features a fabulous sequence where during a high speed police chase on go-carts, Marie and Fredrik along with the police officers in pursuit take a break to eat cakes and drink pop before resuming the chase, is great stuff indeed and would probably work better today… Frustrated and disappointed he decided to make a movie that would appeal to all, and bar nothing from the process. Vibenius is often quoted as saying “I’m going to make a super commercial piece of shit movie”, and the results talk for themselves, Thriller is still talked about in pop culture, and being acknowledged by Tarantino as an inspiration for Kill Bill Vol. 1 2003 you know it made an impression.
I just wish that the stars could align correctly at one point in time and present a complete Vibenius Collection, because all three movies of his films to date (never give up the faith!) are all stunning pieces of craftsmanship. Hur Marie Träffade Fredrik is hilarious, like mentioned previously has a unique narrative, and I’d love to re-watch it with my own kids as I enjoyed it myself that one time I saw it ages ago on video. I’d almost kill for a decent release of Breaking Point as the memories I have of it are that it’s completely surreal, even more provocative than Thriller and was shot in the area of Stockholm where I used to live. Actually the video society Art Video Club that I worked for had our premises on the other side of the street to the school where Bob Bellings kidnaps a child in the movie. We freaked when we realised that we where a step from the location.
Thinking of the irony of Vibenius'“I’m going to make a super commercial piece of shit movie” statement made after the first film, it’s easy to feel its the kind of quote that makes legends, as this commercial piece of shit movie is the one that Bo A. Vibenius will be forever remembered for…
Until he releases some new piece of celluloid fury upon us that is, and that isn’t completely impossible, as there are frequently rumours of new films in the works. All from Thriller 2 – were Frigga is hired by a and of guerrilla soldiers in South America to start a revolution, and eradicate Drug lords and the CIA, to the futuristic Z-Rider (I have had the fortune to read a synopsis that was one of those, I have to see this, moments.) Whatever Vibenius comes up with, I'm sure it would definitely be a movie that all the fans of the masterful Thriller – a cruel film would line up to see, or buy when that desired DVD box set finally materialises.
The version that Synapse Films have released is the complete long version that all those years ago was submitted to the censors in all its gritty, sleazy grandeur…
Image:
1.78:1
Audio:
Dolby Digital Mono - Swedish or English dialogue is optional, and English subtitles are available
Extras:
Where as I complained the other day that the Synapse release of Jesus Franco’sShe Killed In Ecstasy was lacking, this one is filled to the brim. An extensive gallery of stills, original TV-spots and theatrical trailers, outtakes, the story in pictures, an alternative harbour fight sequence, and a photo document on that unused fight sequence that the lab accidentally destroyed in post.