I Am Curious (Yellow)

"I Am Curious (Yellow)" was the first "mainstream" movie in the United States to show sexual intercourse. Although the film was made in Sweden, the controversy that it ignited here reveals a lot about how we Americans think and act about sex.

The film itself is no masterpiece, but is mildly entertaining. The plot, as such is, centers around Lena, a young woman harboring bad feelings toward the men who have slept with her. She has a dream in which she ties her first 23 men, all of whom were using her only for their own orgasm, to a large tree and dynamites them. Gee, that sounds more like an American movie of today.

The other dimension of the plot is kind of a documentary about the Swedish policy of not waging overt war against any country who occupies them. Remember, this was during the cold war, and even though Sweden has been officially neutral for many years, there was a country nearby that was too big to ignore or trust. In the unlikely even of occupation, Swedish citizens were urged to wage "passive resistance" in the form of fraternization, work slowdown. and sabotage. The "Yellow" in the title comes from the Swedish flag, along with its sequel "I am Curious (Blue)."

It was very hip for young people to see this movie. Although it was banned in many locations, many baby boomers traveled someplace else to see the movie. Ah, the forbidden fruit! After reviewing "I am Curious (Yellow)" at least five times, a committee of local civic and religious leaders decided it had no redeeming social qualities and banned it in my native Pittsburgh. It just happened that I had a trip to L.A. that summer and a paid premium price to see this otherwise undistinguished film. And most college students, including myself, were not flush with extra cash.

Filmed in black and white in Swedish with English subtitles, it was just a bit hard to keep up with what was going on. But then again, you really couldn't think of this surrealistic story in a linear way.

The movie did offer some very entertaining diversions, including the opening scene where Lena and her wealthy sponsor attend a reading of "Babi Yar" by Yevtushenko. There was even a cameo of Dr. Martin Luther King. Lena and one boyfriend also had sex in public places -- it probably would have been meaningful if you knew Stockholm. To be very honest, most of the sex scenes were funny rather than erotic, whether or not that was intended.

This firm broke the taboo of showing sex in America, for better or worse. Many American movies in subsequent years have shown sex. Just as "The Dirty Dozen" broke the taboo against four-letter words in mainstream U.S. films. Now you hear language, in movies, even on TV and especially the radio, that would have offended "polite" people a generation ago. I guess the viewer must decide whether that is progress.

I suspect the makers of this film meant it to be surrealistic, not to be taken totally seriously, sort of like "Candy," another film of that era, or "Ally McBeal" in modern times.

I am Curious (Yellow) (a film, in near Seussical rhyme, is said right at the start to be available in two versions, Yellow and Blue) was one of those big art-house hits that first was a major sensation in Sweden then a big scandal/cause-celebre in the United States when the one print was held by customs and it went all the way to the Supreme Court. What's potent in the picture today is not so much what might offend by way of what's revealed in the sex or nudity- the director/"actor" Vilgot Sjoman films the various scenes in such a way that there is an abundance of flesh and genitalia and the occasional graphic bit but it's always more-so an intellectual expression than very lust-like- but the daring of the attempt at a pure 'metafilm' while at the same time making a true statement on the state of affairs in Sweden. Who knew such things in a generally peaceful country (i.e. usually neutral in foreign affairs and wars) could be so heated-up politically? At least, that's part of Sjoman's aim here.

Like a filmmaker such as Dusan Makavajev with some of his works like W.R. (if not as surreal and deranged) or to a slightly lesser extent Bertolucci, Sjoman is out to mix politics and sex (mostly politics and social strata) around in the midst of also making it a comment on embodying a character in a film. The two characters, Lena and Borje, have a hot-cold relationship in the story of the film, where Lena is a "curious" socialist-wannabe who demonstrates in the street for nonviolence and 'trains' sort of in a cabin in the woods to become a fully functioning one, while at the same time maybe too curious about her car salesman boyfriend. And as this is going on, which is by itself enough for one movie, Sjoman inserts himself and his crew from time to time as they are making this story on film (there's even a great bit midway through where, as if at a rock concert, title cards fill in during a break in shooting who the crew are, negating having to use end credits!) Then with this there's a whole other dynamic as Sjoman gives an actual performance, not just a "hey, I'm the director playing the director" bit.

At first, one might not get this structure and that I am Curious (Yellow) is just a film where Lena is a documentary interviewer asking subjects about their thoughts on class, socialism, Spain and Franco, and once in a while we see Lena's father or Bjore. But Sjoman does something interesting: the structure is so slippery as the viewer one has to stay on toes; it's impressive that so many years on a picture can surprise with not being afraid to mix dramatic narrative, documentary, film-within-a-film, and even a serious interview with Martin Luther King, who also acts as a quasi-guru for Lena. It might not always be completely coherent analysis politically, but it doesn't feel cheating or even with much of a satirical agenda like in a Godard picture; the satire Sjoman is after is akin to a Godard but on a whole other wavelength. His anarchy is playful but not completely loaded with semantics or tricks that could put off the less initiated viewer.

If I Am Curious (Yellow) stands up as an intellectual enterprise and a full-blown trip into exploring sex in a manner that was and is captivating for how much is shown and how comfortable it all seems to be for the actors, it isn't entirely successful, I think, as an emotional experience. Where Bergman had it down to a T with making a purely emotional film with deconstruction tendencies, Sjoman is more apt at connecting with specific ideas while not actually directing always very well when it comes time to do big or subtle scenes with the actors. Occasionally it works if only for the actors, Lena Nyman (mostly spectacular here in a performance that asks of her to make an ambitious but confused kid into someone sympathetic and vulnerable even) and Borje Ahlstedt (a great realistic counterpoint to the volatile Lena), but some 40 years later its hard to completely connect with everything that happens in the inner-film of Lena and Borje since (perhaps intentionally) Sjoman fills it up with clichés (Borje has a girlfriend and kid, will he leave her, how will Lena reconcile her father) and a heavy-handed narration from his starlet of sorts.

And yet, for whatever faults Sjoman may have, ironically considering he means it to be a comment on itself, I Am Curious (Yellow) holds up beautifully as an artistic experiment in testing the waters of what could be done in Swedish cinema, or testing what couldn't be and bending it for provocative and comedic usage. I'd even go as far as to say it's influential, and has probably been copied or imitated in more ways than one due to it being such a cult phenomenon at its time (a specific technique used, with the film rewinding towards the end, is echoed in poorer usage in Funny Games), and should be seen by anyone looking into getting into avant-garde or meta-film-making. If it's not quite as outstanding an artistic leap as W.R. or Last Tango, it's close behind.

"Jag är nyfiken – Yellow" is a lot of fun. Like at least one other reviewer, I was, on numerous occasions, laughing out loud. Yellow is energetic, playful, self-aware, explorative. Don't expect Bergman here. This movie is about a youth in the early- to mid-60s in Sweden and about the issues, read *contradictions*, that the nation and the world were facing. At times Yellow appears to be an earnest social-political documentary, with Lena, the main character, and others interviewing both common people and politicians (e.g. Olaf Palme at home). At other times, Yellow seems to parody this kind of documentary. All the while, Yellow acts as a personal documentary exploring Lena's life - her home life, her loves, her political views, her view of herself. She is a complete person – complex, flawed, contradictory, happy, sad, curious. And placed over all of this is the wonderful additional dimension of the director, Sjöman, and his crew documenting themselves documenting Lena. It is this that, for me, really gives Yellow wings. Not only do they suddenly appear at some very funny times and in some funny ways, reminding the viewer that this is fiction and artifice, but their presence is itself another layer of the film; they are filming themselves filming themselves. I am reminded of a Bjork music video with this same quality – a music video about the making of a music video, ad infinitum, with each iteration getting weirder and more cartoonish. I think Sjöman may have had something similar in mind. While "Jag är nyfiken – Yellow" may not be everyone's cup of tea, it is certainly intelligent, witty, refreshing, ebullient, and authentic.

Forget the hype about the nudity and censorship. Forget that it's at the least an experimental film with minimal impression. Focus instead on Ms. Nyman's performance. It's tour de force.

When she's interviewing by-standers documentary style, she shines. When she's knee deep in anger and destroying sets, she's believable. When she's literally exposing all of herself for the sex scenes, she never holds back. In short, she's the ONLY reason I watched this film to its completion.

I liked that this film is a film within a film. Otherwise, it serves no purpose. Sorry, folks; I calls 'em as I sees 'em.

I grew up at a time when we were all experiencing things for the first time. We had heard about this film for a while and thought it would be interesting to see it. We were a mixed group and we guys were a little concerned about how the girls would react. As it turns out, the movie was more intellectually challenging than we had anticipated. We had a nice discussion at a coffee house afterwards. We were a little bit of an artsy bunch anyway. The nudity and sex weren't what we talked about (although it was a bit of an elephant in the room). We were trying to get a handle on what this girl was hoping for in life; what did she want from the world. I'm hoping to see this again soon and perhaps I'll do a little specific revision on the film. It certainly was news in the day. I found it bleak and rather depressing.