Älskande par (1964)

Director:

Mai Zetterling

Writers:

David Hughes (writer)
Mai Zetterling (writer)

Release Date:

21 December 1964 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Three expectant mothers think back over their sex lives. |

Plot Keywords:

Midsummer | Multiple Story Line | Birth Of A Baby Footage | Pregnancy | Maternity

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Harriet Andersson	...	Agda Frideborg
Gunnel Lindblom	...	Adele Holmström - née Silfverstjerna
Gio Petré	...	Angela von Pahlen
Anita Björk	...	Petra von Pahlen
Gunnar Björnstrand	...	Dr. Jacob Lewin
Eva Dahlbeck	...	Mrs. Landborg
Jan Malmsjö	...	Stellan von Pahlen
Lissi Alandh	...	Bell
Bengt Brunskog	...	Tord Holmström
Anja Boman	...	Stanny, Bernhard's sister
Åke Grönberg	...	The fat man
Margit Carlqvist	...	Dora Macson
Heinz Hopf	...	Lt. Bernhard Landborg
Märta Dorff	...	Alexandra Vind-Frija
Jan-Eric Lindquist	...	Peter von Pahlen

Also Known As:

Loving Couples (USA)

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Lidingö, Stockholms län, Sweden

Company:

Sandrews

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Forbidden Flesh (1968)

in many ways well-crafted, but also dry and uninteresting

Technically speaking, this is a good film--with decent cinematography and production values. But, while it is a competent film, I also found myself wanting to turn off the DVD repeatedly because I just didn't find myself at all interested. There are a variety of reasons, though the biggest of which is because it seemed as if I'd seen all this before in various Ingmar Bergman movies--in particular, THE BRINK OF LIFE ("Nära livet"--1958). Also , the angst and sense of isolation and fruitlessness of life was pervasive and just made me feel depressed. After watching this film, I could easily say that the overall message of the film is "life stinks and love is a sham,...then you die".

Now this does NOT mean that I think all movies must be upbeat or positive in tone--far from it. But even a grim movie can be great and compelling when you feel SOME connection to the characters. For example, I just recently saw De Sica's THE CHILDREN ARE WATCHING. It is a major tear-jerker and is the extremely sad story about the break up of a marriage and its impact on a child. BUT, I really cared about De Sica's characters and cared absolutely nothing for Zetterling's. Of the three women featured in the film, one was a lady of privilege with little depth or personality, one a bubble-headed servant and the other a bitter and nasty soul. I just wanted them all to go away and leave me alone!

Now as for this being a controversial film--which it definitely was when it debuted in the 1960s. The nudity but especially the themes of homosexuality and lesbianism were pretty controversial for its day, though by today's standards it's all pretty tame. I still wouldn't let my kids watch the film, but not just because of the nudity and themes but because I love my kids too much to make them watch such an unappealing film.