''I Am Curious (Blue)'', whose original

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

title, ''Jag är nyfiken – en film i blått'', translates as "I Am Curious – A Film in Blue," is a 1968 Swedish film directed by

Vilgot Sjöman David Harald Vilgot Sjöman (2 December 1924 – 9 April 2006) was a Swedish writer and film director. His films deal with controversial issues of social class, morality, and sexual taboos, combining the emotionally tortured characters of Ingm ...

and starring

Lena Nyman Anna Lena Elisabet Nyman (23 May 1944 – 4 February 2011) was a Swedish film and stage actress. Having had her first film roles in 1955, Nyman had a role in Vilgot Sjöman's '' 491'' (1964) and got her breakthrough in his ''I Am Curious (Yel ...

as a character named after herself. It is a companion film to 1967's ''

I Am Curious (Yellow) ''I Am Curious (Yellow)'' (, meaning "I Am Curious: A Film in Yellow") is a 1967 Swedish erotic drama film written and directed by Vilgot Sjöman, starring Sjöman and Lena Nyman. It is a companion film to 1968's ''I Am Curious (Blue)''; the t ...

''; the two were initially intended to be one 3½ hour film.Vilgot Sjöman, ''I Was Curious: Diary of the Making of a Film'' (

Grove Press Grove Press is an United States of America, American Imprint (trade name), publishing imprint that was founded in 1947. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, and Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it in ...

, 1968). The films are named after the colours of the

Swedish flag The national flag of Sweden ( sv, Sveriges flagga) consists of a yellow or gold Nordic cross (i.e. a horizontal cross extending to the edges, with the crossbar closer to the hoist than the fly) on a field of light blue. The Nordic cross design t ...

. ''Blue'' is a second version of ''Yellow,'' taking place before and after the first film. It has a more somber and bitterly

satiric Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

style, and a further explication of the framing narrative. Questions of

lesbianism A lesbian is a homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with fema ...

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

and critiques of

meritocracy Meritocracy (''merit'', from Latin , and ''-cracy'', from Ancient Greek 'strength, power') is the notion of a political system in which economic goods and/or political power are vested in individual people based on talent, effort, and achiev ...

are discussed.

won the award for

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress awar ...

at the

5th Guldbagge Awards The 5th Guldbagge Awards ceremony, presented by the Swedish Film Institute, honored the best Swedish 1967 and 1968, and took place on 21 October 1968. '' Hugo and Josephine'' directed by Kjell Grede was presented with the award for Best Film. A ...

for her role in this film and ''I Am Curious (Yellow)''.

Plot

After the actress Lena had a sexual relationship with Börje, whose affairs with other women caused her to hate him and question her commitment to

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

's philosophy of

nonviolence Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...

, she continues to explore her sexuality and politics. She befriends a woman named Sonja, and they travel to Ströms Vattudal where they enjoy

nude swimming Nude swimming is the practice of swimming without clothing, whether in natural bodies of water or in swimming pools. A colloquial term for nude swimming is ''skinny-dipping''. In both British and American English, to swim means "to move through ...

and other excursions. While hiking, Lena also looks into a cabin and sees two women having lesbian sex. Lena returns to

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, where she stays with the couple Hans and Bim. Bim notices Lena scratching herself, which Lena attributes to allergies. After Hans and Bim have an argument, Hans visits Lena in her bedroom. Bim enters with a magnifying glass and insists on looking at Lena's hand. She discovers Lena has

scabies Scabies (; also sometimes known as the seven-year itch) is a contagious skin infestation by the mite ''Sarcoptes scabiei''. The most common symptoms are severe itchiness and a pimple-like rash. Occasionally, tiny burrows may appear on the skin ...

, disproving Lena's belief her constant itching owed to allergies and mosquito bites. Lena approaches Börje in the

car dealership A car dealership, or car dealer, is a business that sells new or used cars, at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. Car dealerships also often sell spare parts and automotive maintena ...

where he now works, to inform him about the possibility that he also has scabies. He confirms he has been itching and accuses her of giving him the disease, citing her

sexual promiscuity Promiscuity is the practice of engaging in sexual activity frequently with different partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment. A common example of behavior viewed as promiscuous by man ...

. She argues back he is just as promiscuous, resulting in a highly public heated argument. After he loses his job, they both head to the clinic for treatment.

References

External links

* *
Sex and Politics: An Interview with Vilgot Sjöman Conducted by John Lahr''Still Curious''
an essay by

Gary Giddins Gary Giddins is an American jazz critic and author. He wrote for ''The Village Voice'' from 1973; his "Weather Bird" column ended in 2003. In 1986 Gary Giddins and John Lewis created the American Jazz Orchestra which presented concerts using a j ...

at the

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

1968 films 1960s Swedish-language films Films directed by Vilgot Sjöman Films set in Stockholm Films shot in Sweden 1968 drama films Swedish black-and-white films Swedish avant-garde and experimental films 1960s avant-garde and experimental films Self-reflexive films Obscenity controversies in film Film controversies in Sweden Swedish erotic drama films 1960s Swedish films {{1960s-Sweden-film-stub