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Review
by
Brian Lindsey
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4
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2 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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SNEAK
PREVIEW
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DVD Release Date:
June 24, 2008 |
From
watching '70s Scandinavian sexploitation pics I've discerned
two salient facts: (1) Virtually every young, innocent small
town Swedish girl who travels to Stockholm and explores her
sexuality is named "Inga", and (2) Swedes like 90%
of all white people cannot dance.
18-year
old Inga (Christina Lindberg of Anita
- The Shocking Account of a Young Nymphomaniac and Thriller:
A Cruel Picture) is all excited about visiting the big city,
where her older sister Greta (Monica Ekman) has a job and her
own apartment. Invited to stay for a week, she eagerly looks
forward to a bit of shopping, sightseeing and bonding with Sis.
But a rude surprise greets Inga when she arrives Greta has
a live-in lover, a sarcastic, tart-tongued slacker named Carsten
(Krister Ekman). Apparently unemployed, this charming chap does
nothing but laze about the flat all day in his bathrobe, smoking
cigarillos and snarkily commenting on everything when he's not
boinking Greta. (Now that's the good life, I say!) Greta
swears Inga to silence about Carsten, making her promise never
to tell their parents that she's shacking up with him. For some
unfathomable reason Greta hopes to marry this jerk, even though
their relationship seems to consist of nothing but tokin' weed,
arguments and noisy make-up sex.
Camped out on the
sofa, Inga has little choice but to listen to them do the wild
thing all night. Instead of just annoying her this triggers
an awakening of her own repressed sexuality. Inga is rather
naοve and innocent; as recounted in a flashback sequence, her
only experiences with sex have been limited and unpleasant.
(Accosted in a hometown bar by a group of drunken lads, she
was 'rescued' by an older woman who turned out to be a predatory
lesbian keen to take advantage of the situation.) But the sounds
of her sister's lovemaking turn her on, driving her to masturbate.
Then Inga agrees to go out on a blind date with one of Carsten's
friends, Bjorn (Leif Naeslund), who is naturally quite impressed
when they first meet. (She's frickin' Christina Lindberg,
for God's sake!) He treats her to a pleasant night of dining
and (spastic) dancing before taking her back to his pad, where
he tries to rape her. Since this is very much a movie of the
'70s, Inga initially resists but then willingly succumbs...
She actually enjoys it. Before you know it she's holding hands
and strolling through the park with the lucky bastard (who should
probably be in jail). Is she in love? What will happen when
it's time to return home? And what of Carsten? While Greta is
away toiling at the office, he's got his randy eye on her foxy
little sister...
Despite its unusual
lineage
a Swedish-American co-production, filmed in English by an Israeli
director (Dan Wolman, under the amusing sobriquet "Floch
Johnson") Maid
in Sweden is pretty much your standard "coming of
age" skin flick of the type popular in the late '60s and
early '70s. Most of the dialog appears to be improvised; significant
stretches of the film's short running time are consumed by scenes
of Greta, Inga, Carsten and/or Bjorn (in various combos) traipsing
about Stockholm while accompanied by bouncy pop songs, sounding
a good five years out of date, on the soundtrack. As indicated
above, there's very little plot to speak of it's just filler
in between the nude scenes. Now, provided you're cuckoo for
Christina this isn't necessarily a bad thing... The bodaciously
babe-a-licious Lindberg sheds her clothes frequently, changing
outfits, showering (in slow-motion on one memorable occasion)
and shagging. In her youthful prime she had one incredibly hot
bod. 'Nuff said.
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Poor
source materials sink this DVD. The fullframe transfer
taken
from a dark, muddy, occasionally unstable video master
is obviously
cropped. (Parts of the credits are lopped off.) Colors are either
seriously off or washed out. The mono audio track is of decidedly
inferior quality as well. Tinny and flat, instances of muffled
dialog abound. The catchy songs are particularly ill-served.
Typically Impulse's DVDs are completely bereft
of supplements, lacking even trailers. Perhaps in an attempt to
compensate for the lousy presentation of the movie they've tossed
in a couple of extras this time... A ten minute interview with
the now 58-year old Christina
Lindberg is
interesting, if amateurishly shot on camcorder. (No post-production
editing was done to slicken up this footage.) Sanguine about her
film roles, she speaks about playing essentially the same character
and getting naked in virtually all of them. The battered theatrical
trailer is even more dire looking than the main feature.
Maid in Sweden
may not be a good film but I'd still consider it essential viewing
for any bona fide member of the Lusting For Lindberg League. Unfortunately,
this disappointing disc is probably the only way they'll be able
to see it. 6/16/08 |
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