''The Girls'' ( sv, Flickorna) is a 1968 Swedish drama film directed by

Mai Zetterling Mai Elisabeth Zetterling (; 24 May 1925 – 17 March 1994) was a Swedish film director, novelist and actor. Early life Zetterling was born in Västerås, Sweden to a working class family. She started her career as an actor at the age of 17 at D ...

, starring

Bibi Andersson Berit Elisabet Andersson (11 November 1935 – 14 April 2019), known professionally as Bibi Andersson (), was a Swedish actress who was best known for her frequent collaborations with filmmaker Ingmar Bergman. Early life and career Ander ...

Harriet Andersson Harriet Andersson (born 14 February 1932) is a Swedish actress, best known outside Sweden for being part of director Ingmar Bergman's stock company. She often plays impulsive, working class characters. Film actress Harriet Andersson began her ...

and

Gunnel Lindblom Gunnel Märtha Ingegärd Lindblom (18 December 1931 – 24 January 2021) was a Swedish film actress and director. Career As an actress, Lindblom was particularly associated with the work of Ingmar Bergman, though in 1965 she performed the l ...

. It is a feminist reinvention of the ancient Greek play ''

Lysistrata ''Lysistrata'' ( or ; Attic Greek: , ''Lysistrátē'', "Army Disbander") is an ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes, originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC. It is a comic account of a woman's extraordinary mission to end the Peloponne ...

'' by

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states ...

, and revolves around a theatre group who set up the play. In 1996 a documentary on the making of the film, ''Lines From the Heart'', was made by director

Christina Olofson Anna-Maria Christina Olofson (born June 13, 1948 in Kristinehamn, Värmlands län, Sweden) is a Swedish film director, producer and scriptwriter. In 1974, after founding the Hagafilm production company with Göran du Rées, she went on to produce ...

Plot

Liz, Marianne, and Gunilla are three actresses who have been hired to perform in a touring production of ''

''. Each woman faces challenges leaving their homes in order to tour. Marianne has left her married boyfriend and finds it difficult to leave her toddler in the hands of babysitters as she goes on tour. Liz's husband is having an affair and wants her to leave while Gunilla, a mother of four young children, is urged not to leave by her husband who wants her to stay at home to help with the children. Along the tour they are met with polite indifference as audience members either fail to grasp the meaning of the play or are bored by it. After one performance Liz asks members of the audience to stay behind to discuss the meaning of the play but when she tries to speak to them of the importance of women they do not react and a male member of the company acts as if it is just a continuation of the play and ushers her offstage. Liz's stunt attracts attention from the press but as Liz is not able to identify any one incident that led to her outburst they are dismissive of it. Later all three of the leads go out to dinner and talk over the problem of no one relating to the play wondering if perhaps it would be better if they held a woman only show. At dinner they are bothered by several men and when they turn down the men's advances the men become hostile and only leave after Marianne threatens them. On the road, a friend of Liz's husband urges her to come home on behalf of her husband, saying he needs a wife to properly support him and his work. Liz argues that she is tired of putting her husband first but her husband's friend argues that her husband's work is more important than hers. She stays on till the end of the play. The tour finishes and the women return home feeling as though they while no one is willing to change they have at least made people more aware of the misery of their lives. At a party celebrating the end of the play Liz tells the company that she wants to get a divorce.

Cast

as Liz *

as Marianne *

as Gunilla *

Gunnar Björnstrand Knut Gunnar Johanson (13 November 1909 – 24 May 1986) was a Swedish actor known for his frequent work with writer and director Ingmar Bergman. Biography Björnstrand was born Knut Gunnar Johanson in Stockholm as son of actor Oscar Johanson a ...

as Hugo *

Erland Josephson Erland Josephson (; 15 June 1923 – 25 February 2012) was a Swedish actor and author. He was best known by international audiences for his work in films directed by Ingmar Bergman, Andrei Tarkovsky and Theodoros Angelopoulos. Life and career ...

as Carl *

Frank Sundström Frank Sundström (16 January 1912 – 8 November 1993) was a Swedish actor. He appeared in more than 30 films and television shows between 1933 and 1989. In 1948 he played the lead in the American film '' Song of My Heart''. Selected filmo ...

as the doctor *

Åke Lindström Åke Lindström (22 July 1928 – 26 December 2002) was a Swedish actor and film director. He appeared in more than 40 films and television shows between 1950 and 2001. Selected filmography * ''The Kiss on the Cruise'' (1950) * '' Storm Ov ...

as Bengt * Stig Engström as Thommy *

Ulf Palme Ulf Henrik Palme (18 October 1920 – 12 May 1993) was a Swedish film actor. He was born in Stockholm and died in Ingarö. Partial filmography * '' Black Roses'' (1945) - Gunnar Bergström * '' The Serious Game'' (1945) - Ture Törne * '' ...

as director

Release and reception

The film premiered in Sweden on 16 September 1968 through Sandrew Film & Teater. In 2012, the film was voted one of the 25 best Swedish films of all time.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Girls, The 1968 drama films 1968 films 1960s feminist films 1960s female buddy films Films directed by Mai Zetterling Swedish drama films 1960s Swedish-language films Films based on works by Aristophanes Works based on Lysistrata 1960s Swedish films