Maid in Sweden

Made in Sweden (1971)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

USA/Sweden production has Christina Lindberg in her first major acting role. She plays Inga, a 16-year-old cherry who lives on a farm in the middle of no where. She received a letter from her older sister in the big city who invites her over for a week and this is where she discovers sex. This film has been advertised as a sexploitation movie but it actually tries to be a lot more serious than just some skin flick. That's not to say there isn't any nudity in the picture because that would be an outright lie since Lindberg takes her clothes off any chance she gets. She certainly has one of the most beautiful bodies in this genre so seeing her naked isn't a bad thing and I'm sure it's the main reason people will be drawn to the film. She also manages to give a pretty good performance. This is the third film I've seen with her and I'm always amazed at how natural an actress she is. She pulls the part of the shy, naive girl off very well and she's quite believable in the role of a young girl. Monica Ekman and Krister Ekman play her sister and the sister's boyfriend. Inga gets exposed to sexual pleasure during a rape scene, which I'm sure many will object to. She's being raped but half way through she realizes that sex is something good and I'm sure some might see this as sexist or even worse but I don't think any deep messages where trying to be send with the scene. It's strange that the screenplay would take itself so seriously when it's main purpose was to get men into the theater to see naked women. The coming of age story really doesn't work too well because at the heart this is still a sexploitation movie.