The Girls / Flickorna, Sweden 1968

This title was screened at the Hyde Park Picture House as part of the ‘Radical Film Network’s’ ‘1968’ programme. This is the first time the film has been released in Britain, though it may have featured at some Festival here in the past. It seems that it aroused some controversy in Sweden on it initial release. Here in Britain the BBFC gave it a ’15’ certificate with the comment ‘sexualised nudity’, [a new one on me].

The film was directed by Mail Zetterling and also scripted by her with David Hughes who was a co-writer on several of the films in Sweden. Mai Zetterling’s initial career was in the Swedish film industry but she then had a lengthy acting career in British film. Among her memorable titles are Frieda (1947) and Only Two can Play (1962); she also worked extensively on British television. One of he late appearances was in Ken Loach’s Hidden Agenda (190)..

From 1960 she moved into writing and directing films, mainly in Sweden. Her films were often controversial and address issues of a particular relevance to women. In 1982 she made the English-language film Scrubbers . Like the better known Scum (1979) it deals with the experience of Borstal, but in this film for women.

The Girls takes the famous play ‘Lysistrata’ by the Greek writer Aristophanes and puts a contemporary spin on the work. Three established actresses tour a performance of the play round Sweden. Whilst we see part so the various performances much of the film focusses on the women’s responses to the themes of the play and how this relates to their own lives and their relationships with men. Their experience of the play brings out the tragic dimension of a work normally presented as a comedy. Our sense of the play is intensified by performances before regional audiences who appear not to really understand the play and frequently display boredom.

The film enjoys a talented cast: the actresses are played by Bibi Andersson as Liz Lindstrand, Harriet Andersson as Marianne and Gunnel Lindblom as Gunilla. Whilst the less sympathetic male characters include part played by Gunnar Björnstrand and Erland Josephson. These are all fine actors, known in particular for performances in films by Ingmar Bergman. They make the quite challenging film really absorbing.

The challenge lies in the somewhat unconventional form of the film. This is in many ways similar to the ‘new wave’ films appearing across Europe in the 1960s; though we do not think of a Swedish ‘new wave’. There is unconventional editing and sound. In particular a series of sequences that appear as ‘imagined’ by the characters are show with a bleached-out look produced by over-exposure and film processing: a device found in films by Ingmar Bergman and other directors in this period.

The visualisation of the film is very effective. The opening shot appears to be three lightly coloured panels, but, as the camera tracks back, we see that they are reflections in the window of the room where the three actresses are talking about the play. Zetterling and her cinematographer [Rune Ericsson, who worked on several of her films] make great use of surfaces, windows and mirrors. There is a splendid shot of Marianne in a store partly caught in a mirror with the shop assistant over and above her dominating the frame. And there are some fine travelling shots, especially in some actual locations; towns in the north of Sweden where the play travels. The film was shot in black and white and in the 1.66:1 ratio and the print has English sub-titles. The screening used a DCP but, fortunately, Scandinavian digital transfers are well done: only the sound was a little harsh.

The film editing by Wic Kjellin and the sound with Bob Allen; Kalle Boman, sound effects and Sven Fahlén, sound mixer, is extremely complex. Zetterling intercuts the actor’s routines and the performances with each other and with ‘imagined’ sequences that present the subjective feelings of the characters. These are mainly of the women but there are also a couple by the men. Along with this there are frequent passages with overlapping sound, so that we hear the lines from the play over other scenes and the internal voices of the actors over both the play and daily routines.

Some of these techniques work better than others. Whilst Zetterling’s strategies of filming , editing and use of sound provide a commentary and a series of metaphors on the lives of the actresses and the play in which they are involved, at time it feels like over-emphasis. But it is certainly stimulating and provides a distinctive take on Aristophanes and on the experience of women in this famous decade.

There are several explicit scenes but I found the BBFC comment odd. In late 1960s Sweden the film would not seem to offer anything exceptional in this area. I suspect some controversy was partly fuelled by the feminist point-of-view on art and sexuality. But the film enjoys a high reputation in Sweden being voted into a list of top films. ‘Club des Femmes’, involved in the screening, offered an interesting comment on the film by Anna Backman, a lecturer and journalist.

“It is, indeed, an unruly and disobedient work of art and it must be experienced as such. Flickorna is a film that functions as a blowtorch on lazy, priapic narratives; it lampoons the perennial expectations of women to be kind, nurturing and soft; it positions women as active, wilful, defiant and wise in the face of men who continue to act like tyrannical toddlers and make increasingly ludicrous demands.”

The actresses and their characters display of these effectively. Whist the film does not offer a full resolution to the problems encountered the film does end with an announcement of a divorce.