1967
Directed by Vilgot Sjoman
Starring Lena Nyman
Watching the Swedish I Am Curious is probably best done without any foreknowledge of the controversy surrounding the film's initial release.
Still here? Excellent. Knowing that Curious was banned in multiple cities, seized by customs officials and ultimately in the middle of a massive court battle regarding censorship may lead the viewer into thinking that they must finish watching the film, against all that their body and mind tell them while watching it. They may think that the film's outdated and uneven style are products of courageous film-making. They may assume that the tiresome and obnoxious political proselytizing were the 1967 version of brilliant political comment. They may even assume that due to the fact that the films star, Lena Nyman, takes off her clothes and has sex with a few men and asserts herself in the most irritating ways possible (mostly by being rude, or loud, or sometimes, rude and loud) that they are watching a brilliant statement on female liberation.
All of these assumptions may lead them to finish watching the film.
All of these assumptions will, sadly, be incorrect, and they will have wasted 121 minutes of their life watching a brutally unfunny comedy, a mindbogglingly stupid political documentary, and a disgusting portrayal of confused masochism masquerading as a female coming of age story. They will, in effect, have watched the worst kind of movie possible. Of course, if they've read this far, they will have had no excuse.
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