6/25/07: I Am Curious (Yellow) (1967)As we approach our first anniversary, let’s take a moment to wonder what happened to all the porn. The problem is that we actually pay attention to our imaginary friends who come to visit. A lot of them have discovered us through religious sites. That’s kind of made us self-conscious about the dirty stuff.
You’re not getting lucky with
I Am Curious (Yellow), either. Despite the film’s reputation, this scandalous Swedish import is more of a dull polemic—except it’s fascinatingly dull, and not just because star Lena Nyman (playing herself) manages to be sexy and plain and pudgy. She’s the interviewer for a documentary-within-the-film, and lover/director Vilgot Sjöman (playing himself) starts things off by bemoaning her political ignorance. That same ignorance makes
I Am Curious (Yellow) a great conservative comedy.
Which is good, because something has to make up for the lack of hardcore sex. There’s a reason that film critics panned this Swedish import when it finally made it past the censors and into American theaters—and the problem isn’t that the disputed sex scene is only three seconds long.
Lena’s an uncomfortably honest example of a good intellectual hippie gal. Sweden’s going through a weird time as it aspires to democracy and finds itself increasingly mired in absurd socialism. Lena’s cause is dedicated to increasing that absurdity. Her (true-life) man-on-the street interviews are best summed up when she approaches policemen and ask, “Have you heard of nonviolence?”
“No,” they reply, walking away.
Here’s another memorable moment, as Lena pretends to gather other people’s opinions:
Some people are born with limited prospects. They’re lost, awkward, not very forward, and lack brains to study. Others have quite another prospect, born with brains and talent. Should they be rewarded for that? And get better jobs and income? They work with what they enjoy and have a better life. Shouldn’t one do something to change this? If it weren’t for those cops walking away, you’d think Sweden didn’t have a future. Lena and her pals are doing their best to wipe out that possibility. “So you think we should maintain our [military] defense?” Lena asks one young creep. “Absolutely not,” he replies.
Lena is also seen marching with a sign that declares, “Nonviolence Is Your Defense.” In another scene, Lena explains the simple logic of Sweden surrendering to its enemies:
If you can teach everyone in the country, then they’ll have a better chance! If they learn that many of them will be tortured, and many will die, but the advantage is that fewer people will die this way than in a war where people throw bombs. So you reduce the losses. That sure as hell has to be worth something!We got that translation from the subtitles on the Criterion Collection DVD, so it’s fairly accurate. The same can be said for Lena’s ability to predict the future. Today’s Swedish government certainly doesn’t waste time surrendering to Muslim fanaticism.
We’re happy to remain less informed about what went on in Sweden during 1967.
I Am Curious (Yellow) is a lot more fun if you let it play out as a sci-fi laff fest. Consider this
Curious breaking news, as intoned by a Swedish news anchor:
…the Nonviolence Defense Plan has thereby been adopted. All citizens shall take a four-month course on nonviolence techniques, and a refresher course every three years. Later on, it’ll be announced that the courses in nonviolence have led to Sweden refusing to defend itself in case of enemy occupation. This inspires some people to campaign for Sweden developing an A-bomb program to support their neutrality. Meanwhile, Lena can’t enjoy any of this. She’s busy apologizing to the spirit of Martin Luther King for not being nonviolent enough in her personal life, since she’s mad enough at a boyfriend to want to kill him.
We see a photo of the Reverend King politely listening to her distraught confession. Lena then eats a lot of pastries. That’s good. She looks really cute with a little weight on her.
Things get slightly indulgent as fictional Lena blurs into the real Lena. The important thing is that it’s a happy ending for director Vilgot Sjöman. He gets both Lenas out of his life, and the resultant controversy will make
I Am Curious (Yellow) one of the most profitable foreign films of all time. He’ll cash in again with the virtually similar
I Am Curious (Blue). That was our tax dollars at work.
Make it your own: Unlike most releases from the Criterion label, the
combined DVD of
I Am Curious (Yellow) and
I Am Curious (Blue) is easy to find as a cheap used copy. It’s almost like conservatives don’t want to buy up X-rated comedies.
