I Am Curious Yellow (film)
"I Am Curious Yellow" is a Swedish film directed by Vilgot Sjöman, released in 1967. It follows the story of Lena, a twenty-two-year-old self-appointed sociologist played by Lena Nyman, who embarks on a journey to explore the class structure in Sweden through a series of interviews. The film interweaves a documentary style with fictional elements, featuring Lena's personal life and ideological pursuits, including her condemnation of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and the need for new societal morals.
Lena, engaged in a romantic relationship with her twenty-fourth lover, navigates a narrative that blends her experiences with broader political themes. The film is known for its provocative content, including simulated sexual acts and nudity, which sparked significant controversy and legal battles over censorship and artistic expression upon its release in the United States. Despite the initial expectations for explicit content, audiences encountered a thought-provoking examination of societal issues, ultimately contributing to discussions on obscenity and the evolving landscape of film. The film's success led to the creation of a sequel, "I Am Curious Blue," released in 1968, which revisits the original narrative.
I Am Curious Yellow (film)
Released 1967
Director Vilgot Sjöman
The infamous film that captured the attention of both the public and censors. The release of the film in Sweden in 1967 and in the United States in 1969 abetted the sexual revolution of the 1960’s.
Key Figures
Vilgot Sjöman (1924-2006), film director
The Work
In I Am Curious Yellow, twenty-two-year-old Lena (Lena Nyman), a self-appointed sociologist, attempts to study the class structure in Sweden by a series of interviews, all the while attempting to emulate the nonviolent activities of Martin Luther King, Jr., with meditation, diet, and participation in marches and demonstrations. She takes a lover (Börje Ahlstedt), her twenty-fourth to this point. This is the story within a story: Lena, a drama student, and her lover are characters within a documentary studying various aspects of life in Sweden. The film makes use of newsreels and television voiceovers. Lena the character becomes convinced that the Ten Commandments are no longer relevant and that new ones need to be created. She declares that Sweden needs to stop supporting U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Lena the actress is involved with the forty-two-year-old director, Vilgot Sjöman, who has the role of the director in the documentary. All of these characters inhabit a black-and-white film-in-film world that uses a loose narrative structure with some cinema verité interviews, as with the poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko. The film ends with the characters breaking off their relationships, the documentary being completed, and Lena turning in her key to the front door of the studio. Fade-out comes after the Make Love Not War button is displayed on the screen with the subtitle of “Buy our film.”
Impact
I Am Curious Yellow was a commercial success. “Offensive,” “obscene,” and “pornographic” were the words used most often to describe the film, which included simulated sexual intercourse, full frontal nudity, fondling of genitalia, and a nude romp. The film was seized by U.S. customs and was not released to Grove Press, its U.S. distributor, until after several court battles involving the film’s artistic merits. The legal wrangles generated a great deal of publicity, and the public filled New York theaters when the film was released there in March, 1969. The film’s contents the film within a film and all the politics was a letdown for those who expected lurid footage. What audiences got instead was an interpretation of the colors of the Swedish flag, new definitions for obscenity and sexuality, and the end of an era of censorship.
Related Work
In 1968, Sjöman made a second version of the film entitled I Am Curious Blue. This second film is a retelling of the first; the characters and incidents are the same.
Additional Information
For information on the Swedish political issues in the film, see The Labor Movement, Political Power, and Workers’ Participation in Western Europe (1982), by John and Evelyne Stephens, and Interest Groups in Sweden (1974) by Nils Elvander.