''Sytten'' (English title: ''Eric Soya's "17"'') is a 1965

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

coming-of-age sex comedy directed by

Annelise Meineche Anneliese (, ) is a female given name of either German, Dutch or Nordic origin. It is a compound form of "Anna" and "Liese", a short form of " Elisabeth". It may refer to: * Anneliese Bauer, East German slalom canoer who competed in the late 195 ...

and starring

Ole Søltoft Ole Søltoft (8 January 1941 – 9 May 1999 in Kolding) was a Danish actor who became an icon of the 1970s wave of Danish erotic feature film comedies. For over a decade he starred or co-starred in nearly all notable films in this genre and became ...

and

Ghita Nørby Ghita Nørby (born 11 January 1935) is a Danish actress with 117 film credits to her name from 1956 to 2005, making her one of the most active Danish actresses ever. Early life Nørby was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, the daughter of opera singer ...

. Søltoft plays a 17-year-old high school student who discovers the youthful excesses of sexual desire during his summer vacation in 1913. Based upon the semi-autobiographical 1953 novel by Carl Erik Soya, Sytten was a financial success for the Palladium Film company and ushered in a wave of erotic films such as the ''Bedside''-films and ''Zodiac''-films, most of which starred Søltoft.

Plot

In the summer of 1913, 17-year-old Jacob (Ole Soltoft), a Danish high school student, lives in the frustrating limbo between boyhood and manhood. He worries about his excessive focus on masturbation and, although he is aware of the sexual overtures by the housemaid Sophie (Lise Rosendahl), Jacob doesn't know how to respond to her. Jacob is invited to spend his vacation at the summer house of his wealthy uncle (Ole Monty). At the summer house in an idyllic coastal town, Jacob meets his uncle, aunt (Bodil Steen), free-spirited housemaid Hansigne (Susanne Heinrich), virginal housekeeper Rosegod (Lily Broberg), and his dream-girl cousin Vibeke (Ghita Nørby). He is also pursued by his Uncle's employee (Ingolf David), who tries to seduce Jacob. While the Uncle is off on a fishing trip and the Aunt spends the night in town with her lover, Jacob has his first sexual experience with Vibeke—an awkward encounter. Afterwards, when Vibeke leaves for school, Jacob spends his nights with Hansigne—a joyful, uncomplicated and liberated woman. She guides him through his awkwardness and teaches him erotic techniques. One night, Hansigne's boyfriend Knud (Hugo Herrestrup) catches them together and attacks and threatens Jacob. Jacob discovers he finally feels like a man. In great spirits, he returns home after vacation and prepares to accept the advances of Sophie.

Cast

as Jacob Petersen, a 17-year-old searching for sexual experience. The role was a break-out performance for the 23-year-old Søltoft. Although he tried a few serious roles, he was quickly typecast in comedic sex romps. Through the late-60s and 70s, he went on to star in a successful series of Danish sex comedies before retiring from film in 1978. *

as Vibeke *

Emil Hass Christensen Emil Hass Christensen (23 January 1903 – 12 January 1982) was a Danish film actor. He appeared in 60 films between 1925 and 1978. He was born in Frederiksberg, Denmark and died in Denmark. Selected filmography * ''Cirkusrevyen 1936'' – 1 ...

as Professor Petersen *

Ole Monty Ole Monty (22 October 1908 – 24 April 1977) was a Danish film actor. He appeared in 65 films between 1937 and 1976. He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark and died in Denmark. Filmography *'' Flådens blå matroser'' - 1937 *''Under byens ...

as Jacob's Uncle *

Bodil Steen Bodil Jørri Jensen Steen (14 January 1923 – 10 January 1979) was a Danish stage and film actress. Filmography *''I dag begynder livet'' - 1939 *'' Tror du jeg er født i går?'' - 1941 *'' Når katten er ude'' - 1947 *'' Det hændte i K ...

as Jacob's Aunt *

Lily Broberg Lily Broberg (19 September 1923 – 30 July 1989) was a Danish stage and film actress. Born in Skjørring, Skanderborg Municipality, Jutland, Denmark, she died in Frederiksberg and was buried at the Frederiksberg Ældre Kirkegård Frede ...

as Mrs. Rosegod *

Arthur Jensen Arthur Robert Jensen (August 24, 1923 – October 22, 2012) was an American psychologist and writer. He was a professor of educational psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. Jensen was known for his work in psychometrics an ...

as Konduktøren * Henry Nielsen as Stationsforstanderen *

Annie Birgit Garde Annie Birgit Garde (born 3 October 1933) is a Danish film actress. Garde has appeared in more than 40 films since 1955. Selected filmography * ''Altid ballade'' (1955) * ''Father of Four and the Wolf Cubs'' (1958) * ''Soldaterkammerater rykke ...

as Girl on Train * Susanne Heinrich as Hansigne * Ingolf David as Pharmacist *

Jørgen Kiil Jørgen Kiil (''Jørgen Peter Christiansen Kiil''; 13 February 1931 in Aarhus, Denmark – June 1, 2003 in Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population o ...

as Dr. Irving Mogensen *

Hugo Herrestrup Hugo Herrestrup (29 January 1933 – 22 September 2009) was a Danish film actor. He appeared in 35 films between 1953 and 1996. He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. Selected filmography * '' Father of Four'' (1953) * '' Sømand i knibe'' (1 ...

as Knud *

Lise Rosendahl Lise may refer to: People *Eliseo Nicolás Alonso (known as Lise; 1955–2012), Spanish woodcarver and sculptor *Claude Lise (born 1941), French politician from Martinique Given name Lise is a variant of the given name Lisa *Lise de Baissac, Mau ...

as Sophie *

Jytte Abildstrøm Jytte Abildstrøm (born 25 March 1934) is a Danish film actress. She has appeared in 40 films since 1956. She was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. She and her husband Søren Mygind are the parents of Peter Mygind. Filmography * '' Julestjerner'' ( ...

as Mrs. Steinkop

Reaction

Although ''Sytten'' was one of the first mainstream films in Denmark dealing with explicit nudity and sex (along with ' and ''

I, a Woman ''I, a Woman'' (original Danish: ''Jeg - en kvinde'') is a 1965 black-and-white Danish-Swedish erotic film whose break-through popularity helped initiate a wave of sexploitation films into mainstream American theaters in the late 1960s, and inspi ...

''), the film provoked little controversy within the country. It had been more than ten years since the Danish public was indignant over the publication of Soya's novel as well as other controversial novels by

Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, social criticism, philosophical ref ...

and

Agnar Mykle Agnar Mykle (8 August 1915 – 15 January 1994) was a Norwegian author. He became one of the most controversial figures in Norwegian literature in the 20th century. Early life Born in Norway's third largest city, Trondheim, Mykle was often ...

. By 1965, Danish attitudes had changed. Kutchinsky, Berl ''Pornography, Crime and Public Policy'', AIC conference proceedings, Australian Institute of Criminology, 1990-1996, ISSN 1034-5086 In 1964, the state prosecutor had brought a

pro forma The term ''pro forma'' (Latin for "as a matter of form" or "for the sake of form") is most often used to describe a practice or document that is provided as a courtesy or satisfies minimum requirements, conforms to a norm or doctrine, tends to ...

obscenity case against the publishers of a new translation of

Fanny Hill ''Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure''—popularly known as ''Fanny Hill''—is an erotic novel by English novelist John Cleland first published in London in 1748. Written while the author was in debtors' prison in London,Wagner, "Introduction" ...

which ended in acquittal. Two years later, Denmark's laws against pornographic literature were repealed, and, in 1969, pictorial pornography was also decriminalized. Reaction outside of Denmark was different and viewings were limited. In the United Kingdom, the

British Board of Film Censors The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organization, non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national clas ...

(BBFC) refused to certify ''Sytten'' for viewing in standard cinemas. However, the final decision is always left to individual local authorities (which normally follow the BBFC's decisions). Only in London, the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

permitted showings under an

X-rating An X rating is a rating used in various countries to classify films that have content deemed suitable only for adults. It is used when the violent or sexual content of a film is considered to be potentially disturbing to general audiences. Aust ...

(for individuals aged 16 or over, at that time). The film became an enormous box office success in Denmark, achieving a record profit of 3 million Danish kroner for the Palladium film studio. Palladium followed it the next year with a more serious work, ''Soya's Tagsten'', also based upon a novel by Soya, however this film was a financial failure. After a few more attempts at more serious erotic films, Palladium finally discovered the correct formula was sex comedies with Ole Søltoft in the lead, such as ''Mazurka på sengekanten'',. The film was the final production by Palladium, but it was another box-office hit, had many sequels and continued the wave of erotic comedies.

References

External links

''Sytten''
at IMDb

at Den Danske Film Database (in Danish)
''Sytten''
at Det Danske Filminstitut (in Danish) * {{Amg movie, 138642, Sytten

Plot

Cast

Reaction

References

Further reading

External links

See also