''I Am Curious (Yellow)'' (, meaning "I Am Curious: A Film in Yellow") is a 1967 Swedish

erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, scu ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

written and 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 ...

, starring Sjöman and

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 (Yell ...

. It is a companion film to 1968's ''

I Am Curious (Blue) ''I Am Curious (Blue)'', whose original Swedish 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 and starring Lena Nyman as a character named afte ...

''; the two were initially intended to be one hour film.

Plot

Director

plans to make a

social film A social film is a type of interactive film that is presented through the lens of social media. A social film is distributed digitally and integrates with a social networking service, such as Facebook or Google+. It combines features of web video, ...

starring his lover

, a young theatre student who has a strong interest in social issues. Nyman's character, also named Lena, lives with her father in a small apartment in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

and is driven by a burning passion for

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals ...

and a need to understand the world, people and relationships. Her little room is filled with books, papers, and boxes full of clippings on topics such as "religion" and "men", and files on each of the 23 men with whom she has had sex. The walls are covered with pictures of

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

s and a portrait of

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 193 ...

, reminders of the crimes being perpetrated against humanity. She walks around Stockholm and interviews people about social classes in society, conscientious objection, gender equality, and the morality of vacationing in Franco's Spain. She and her friends also picket embassies and travel agencies. Lena's relationship with her father, who briefly went to Spain to fight Franco as part of the

International Brigades The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed ...

, is problematic, and she is distressed by the fact that he returned from Spain for unknown reasons after only a short period. Through her father Lena meets the slick Bill (Börje in the original Swedish), who works at a menswear shop and voted for the Rightist Party. They begin a love affair, but Lena soon finds out from her father that Bill has another woman, Marie, and a young daughter. Lena is furious that Bill has not been open with her, and goes to the country on a bicycle holiday. Alone in a cabin in the woods, she attempts an

ascetic Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...

life-style,

meditating Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...

, studying

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 ...

and practicing

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

. Bill soon comes looking for her in his new car. She greets him with a shotgun, but they soon make love. Lena confronts Bill about Marie, and finds out about another of his lovers, Madeleine. They fight and Bill leaves. Lena has strange dreams, in which she ties two teams of soccer players – she notes that they number 23 – to a tree, shoots Bill and cuts his penis off. She also dreams of being taunted by passing drivers as she cycles down a road, until finally

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 ...

drives up. She apologizes to him for not being strong enough to practice nonviolence. Lena returns home, destroys her room, and goes to the car showroom where Bill works to tell him she 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 ski ...

. They are treated at a clinic, and then go their separate ways. As the

embedded story A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story (within the first one). Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometimes c ...

of Lena and Bill begins to resolve, the film crew and director Sjöman are featured more. The relationship between Lena the actress and Bill the actor has become intimate during the production of Vilgot's film, and Vilgot is jealous and clashes with Bill. The film concludes with Lena returning Vilgot's keys as he meets with another young female theatre student.

Nonfictional content

The film includes an interview with Dr.

, filmed in March 1966, when King was visiting Stockholm along with

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an internati ...

with a view to starting a new initiative for Swedish support of African Americans. The film also includes an interview with then Minister of Transportation

Olof Palme Sven Olof Joachim Palme (; ; 30 January 1927 – 28 February 1986) was a Swedish politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1969 to 1976 and 1982 to 1986. Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 until ...

(later

Prime Minister of Sweden The prime minister ( sv, statsminister ; literally translating to "Minister of State") is the head of government of Sweden. The prime minister and their cabinet (the government) exercise executive authority in the Kingdom of Sweden and are su ...

), who talks about the existence of class structure in Swedish society (he was told it was for a documentary film), and footage of Russian poet

Yevgeny Yevtushenko Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Yevtushenko ( rus, links=no, 1=Евге́ний Алекса́ндрович Евтуше́нко; 18 July 1933 – 1 April 2017) was a Soviet and Russian poet. He was also a novelist, essayist, dramatist, screenwriter, ...

Cast

as Vilgot Sjöman *

as Lena *

Börje Ahlstedt Nils Börje Ahlstedt (born 21 February 1939) is a Swedish actor who has worked extensively with the world-famous director Ingmar Bergman in films like ''Fanny and Alexander'' (1982), ''The Best Intentions'' (1992), '' Sunday's Children'' (1992) ...

as Börje * Peter Lindgren as Lena's father * Chris Wahlström as Rune's woman *

Marie Göranzon Britt-Marie Elisabeth Göranzon Malmsjö (born 27 October 1942) is a Swedish actress. Marie Göranzon has been part of Sweden's Royal Dramatic Theatre-ensemble since 1967. She trained at the Royal Dramatic Training Academy from 1964 to 1967. ...

as Marie * Magnus Nilsson as Magnus * Ulla Lyttkens as Ulla *

Anders Ek Anders Ek (7 April 1916 – 17 November 1979) was a Swedish film actor. He was born in Gothenburg, Sweden and died in Stockholm. He was married to Birgit Cullberg and is the father of dancer Niklas Ek (born 1943), dancer Mats Ek and actres ...

as Exercise leader *

as himself *

as himself Uncredited roles *

Holger Löwenadler Holger Carl Minton Löwenadler (1 April 1904 – 18 June 1977) was a Swedish film actor. He starred in Ingmar Bergman's ''A Ship to India'' (1947). He appeared in ''Divorced'' (1951), which was written by Bergman. Other appearances include ...

as The King * Bertil Norström as Factory worker *

Dora Söderberg Dora Söderberg (10 November 1899 – 9 November 1990) was a Swedish stage, film, and television actress. Daughter of the famous Swedish novelist and playwright Hjalmar Söderberg. Dora Söderberg was a highly acclaimed character actress ...

Old lady in elevator *

Öllegård Wellton Ingeborg Viola Öllegård Wellton-Hell (née Wellton; 18 April 1932 – 26 June 1991) was a Swedish actress. She was married to actor Erik Hell from 1960 until his death in 1973. She studied at the Royal Dramatic Training Academy from 1950&ndas ...

as Yevtushenko's Interpreter *

Sven Wollter Sven Justus Fredrik Wollter (11 January 1934 – 10 November 2020) was a Swedish actor, writer, and political activist. Wollter is one of the most renowned Swedish actors, he was awarded Best Swedish actor twice. In his native country, he becam ...

as Captain

Release

Censorship

The film includes numerous and frank scenes of

nudity Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to h ...

and staged

sexual intercourse Sexual intercourse (or coitus or copulation) is a sexual activity typically involving the insertion and thrusting of the penis into the vagina for sexual pleasure or reproduction.Sexual intercourse most commonly means penile–vaginal pene ...

. One particularly controversial scene features Lena kissing her lover's (Borje's) flaccid

penis A penis (plural ''penises'' or ''penes'' () is the primary sexual organ that male animals use to inseminate females (or hermaphrodites) during copulation. Such organs occur in many animals, both vertebrate and invertebrate, but males d ...

. Released in Sweden in October 1967, it was released in the U.S. in March 1969, immediately attracting a ban in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

for being

pornographic Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

, with the

Boston Police Department The Boston Police Department (BPD), dating back to 1854, holds the primary responsibility for law enforcement and investigation within the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest municipal police department in the United States. Th ...

seizing the film reels from the Symphony Cinemas I & II on Huntington Avenue. After proceedings in the

United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts (in case citations, D. Mass.) is the federal district court whose territorial jurisdiction is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The first court session was he ...

(''Karalexis v. Byrne'', 306 F. Supp. 1363 (D. Mass. 1969)), the

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory comprises the states of Connecticut, New York and Vermont. The court has appellate ju ...

, and the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. Federal tribunals in the United States, federal court cases, and over Stat ...

(''Byrne v. Karalexis''
396 U.S. 976 (1969)
an

, the Second Circuit found the film not to be obscene. An

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wate ...

ist set a fire in the Heights Theatre in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

during the film's run there.

Box office

The film was popular at the box office and was the 12th most popular film in the United States and Canada in 1969 and the highest-grossing foreign-language film in the United States and Canada of all-time with a gross of $20,238,100. It was number one at the US box office for two weeks in November 1969. One reason it did so well was that it became popular among film stars to be seen going to the film. News of

Johnny Carson John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He is best known as the host of '' The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson received six P ...

seeing the film legitimized going to see it despite any misgivings about possible pornographic content.

Jacqueline Onassis Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American socialite, writer, photographer, and book editor who served as first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A pop ...

went to see the movie, judo-felling an awaiting news photographer, Mel Finkelstein, alerted by the theatre manager, while leaving the theatre during the showing.

Critical reception

Contemporary

Initial reception to Curious Yellow was divided.

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' referred to it as a "Good, serious movie about a society in transition," and

Norman Mailer Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen name Norman Kingsley Mailer, was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, activist, filmmaker and actor. In a career spanning over six decades, Maile ...

said he felt "like a better man" after having seen it. Conversely,

Rex Reed Rex Taylor Reed (born October 2, 1938) is an American film critic, occasional actor, and television host. He writes the column "On the Town with Rex Reed" for '' The New York Observer''. Early life Reed was born on October 2, 1938, in Fort Wo ...

described the film as "about as good for you as drinking furniture polish" and

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the '' Chicago ...

'' lambasted it as "a dog... a real dog" and "stupid and slow and uninteresting.".

said the movie was "vile and disgusting" and Sjöman was "a very sick Swede with an overwhelming ego and a fondness for photographing pubic hair", but

described it as "one of the most important pictures I have ever seen in my life".

Retrospective

In recent years, Yellow has received some reappraisal, thanks in part to

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 ...

, who authored the 2003 essay accompanying the Criterion Collection DVD release, and a review by Nathan Southern on the

All Movie Guide AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cul ...

website. Southern assesses the picture as "a droll and sophisticated comedy about the emotional, political, social, and sexual liberation of a young woman... a real original that has suffered from public incomprehension since its release and is crying out for reassessment and rediscovery.". As of August 2015, ''I Am Curious (Yellow)'' received a 52% rating based on 25 reviews, 13 "fresh" and 12 "rotten" on the review aggregate website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

Awards and honors

Nyman 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 aw ...

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. Awa ...

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

In popular culture

Various television series have episodes with similar titles, such as ''

Get Smart ''Get Smart'' is an American comedy television series parodying the secret agent genre that had become widely popular in the first half of the 1960s, with the release of the ''James Bond'' films. It was created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, an ...

series finale A series finale is the final installment of an episodic entertainment series, most often a television series. It may also refer to a final theatrical sequel, the last part of a television miniseries, the last installment of a literary series, or ...

"I Am Curiously Yellow"; ''

Moonlighting Moonlighting may refer to: * Side job, a job taken in addition to one's primary employment Entertainment * ''Moonlighting'' (film), a 1982 drama film by Jerzy Skolimowski * ''Moonlighting'' (TV series), 1985–1989 American television series, s ...

'' ("I Am Curious, Maddie"); ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, ...

'' ("

I Am Furious (Yellow) "I Am Furious (Yellow)" is the eighteenth episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired in the United States by the Fox network on April 28, 2002. In the episode, Bart creates a co ...

"); ''

That Girl ''That Girl'' is an American sitcom that ran on ABC from September 8, 1966 to March 19, 1971. It starred Marlo Thomas as the title character Ann Marie, an aspiring (but only sporadically employed) actress, who moves from her hometown of Brewster ...

'' ("I Am Curious Lemon"); ''

Ed, Edd n Eddy '' Ed, Edd n Eddy'' is a Canadian animated comedy television series created by Danny Antonucci for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. The series revolves around three friends named Ed, Edd (called "Double D" ...

'' ("I Am Curious Ed"); and ''

The Partridge Family ''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom starring Shirley Jones and featuring David Cassidy. Jones plays a widowed mother, and Cassidy plays the oldest of her five children, in a family who embarks on a music career. It ran from S ...

'' ("I Am Curious...Partridge"). In the ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its f ...

'' seventh season episode "The Strategy",

Don Draper Donald Francis Draper, born Richard “Dick” Whitman, is a fictional character and the protagonist of the AMC television series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), portrayed by Jon Hamm. Up to the Season 3 finale, Draper was creative director of fict ...

references having just seen this movie in a theatre. Episode 285 of ''

This American Life ''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internati ...

'' featured a story called "I Am Curious, Jello," which followed up on the censorship trial between Los Angeles prosecutor Michael Guarino and

Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Dead Kennedys' lyrics were usually political in nature, satirizing ...

singer

Jello Biafra Eric Reed Boucher (born June 17, 1958), known professionally as Jello Biafra, is an American singer, spoken word artist and politician. He is the former lead singer and songwriter for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys. Initially ac ...

two decades after the case was thrown out of court. American car manufacturer

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to ...

introduced a special order color for 1971. "Curious Yellow" is a vibrant greenish yellow, one of their "High-Impact" colors.

References

External links

''I Am Curious (Yellow)''
at

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

''I Am Curious (Yellow)
at

''Still Curious''
an essay by

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, cine ...

*
''Byrne v. Karalexis''
{{DEFAULTSORT:I Am Curious (Yellow) 1967 films 1960s avant-garde and experimental films 1967 drama films Swedish avant-garde and experimental films 1960s erotic drama films 1960s Swedish-language films Films directed by Vilgot Sjöman Adultery in films Swedish black-and-white films Films about sexually transmitted diseases Films about filmmaking Films about Martin Luther King Jr. Films set in Stockholm Films shot in Sweden Censored films Obscenity controversies in film Self-reflexive films Sexual revolution Works subject to a lawsuit Swedish erotic drama films Film censorship in the United States Film censorship in Sweden Film controversies in the United States Film controversies in Sweden 1960s Swedish films