1968 ‘Flickorna’ Directed by Mai Zetterling
A theater company rehearses Aristophanes play "Lysistrata" in which the Athenian women revolt to force the men to suspend the war and make peace. The three leading female actresses, Liz, Marianne and Gunilla, all live in humiliating circumstances to their men.
Bibi Andersson Harriet Andersson Gunnel Lindblom Gunnar Björnstrand Erland Josephson Frank Sundström Åke Lindström Stig Engström Margreth Weivers Leif Liljeroth Ulf Palme Ingvar Kjellson Signe Enwall Bellan Roos Chris Wahlström Brita Öberg Manne Grünberger Per Grevér Bertil Norström Gunnel Sporr Karin Miller Monique Ernstdotter Gunilla Dahlman Eva Högberg Henrik Schildt Monica Andersson Elsa Hofgren Margita Nyström Kai Reiners Show All…
Näyttelijättäret, Les filles, Τα κορίτσια, Le ragazze, Dziewczeta, As Raparigas, Девушки
A combative yet playful work interested in praxis, not theory. Political films, especially arthouse films, speak to the converted (primarily). At worst, they do politics for us and thus disincentive actual action; actually, at worst they foster hypocrisy: people happy to appreciate political statements in art while actually not upholding those principles through their actions.
This last point can be shown through many male characters in this film, who celebrate a feminist play but actively uphold the patriarchy. The intersection of the literary, or the fictive/theoretical, and reality is the core of this film. It uses Aristophanes’ Lysistrata to push this — the film being built around a troupe touring the play. A lesser film would merely use this play,…
Alternating between Grecian theatrics and dreamlike wanderings, Mai Zetterling's take on Lysistrata is a frank, funny, and introspective glimpse into the lives of three actresses, whose romantic experiences intersect with the themes of the play as they are performing it on tour. Through internal monologues, fanciful dream sequences, readings from the text, and slice of life moments, the film expounds upon its themes of patriarchal traditions in the supposedly "modern" age as well as the idea of passive vs active consumption of culture. It's not exactly subtle in its gender politics but the earnest performances, stylish visuals, and almost playful construction made for an enjoyable and thought-provoking watch. I think I loved it. No wait: I did!
"Actors are always quoting lines, confusing theater and reality."
Women Film Editors #52: Wic Kjellin
AKA Men Ain't Shit: The Movie.
After two decades of experience in front of the camera, Swedish actress Mai Zetterling turned to screenwriting and directing in the early 1960s, putting her personal touch on stories focused on girls and women. When the Manhattan arthouse theater Film Forum showed a retrospective of her work this past May, Zetterling's career was summed up thusly: "Born to a working-class family in Västerås, Sweden, MAI ZETTERLING (1925-1994) first came to international attention as the 'sweet, blonde, and defenseless' (Leif Furhammar) star in post-war Swedish, British, and Hollywood movies. But she made her mark in the 1960s as the director…
Knowing that all the white male film critics in Sweden in 1968 completely despised this film just made me love it even more
“You should see her in bed. And In the kitchen.”
I accidentally caught part of the last day of the Mai Zetterling festival. I would have caught a couple of more, but alas, I didn't even know it was going on.
The film was often zany and featured some great blocking and mirror play. From this film, it seems that sexism was rampant in 1960s Sweden. Women were objects: treated like they were good for the kitchen, bedroom, and raising the children. The women's dreams were put down and one man even spanked his wife in the train station with people applauding him.
The women revolted and were so vivacious. They were ready to fight for their rights and for…
Bibi Andersson yells at people to try to get them to talk about what they just watched. About art. She wants to open up discourse, but it seems the only discourse possible between men and women in this film is intercourse.
Lysistrata both on-stage and off.
Mai Zetterling whips up a swinging 1960s Swedish nightmare where the only solution seems to be to dance.
Features Gunnar Bjornstrand and Erland Josephson questioning if women ever existed in the first place. Gunnar's earned his most annoying film role I've seen thus far award here, bravo.
There's a whole lot of actual laughing done by actors in this film, but make no mistake, this is not a comedy, it's Greek tragedy.
Bergman just called. He wants his leading ladies back. Oh, wait. He can't. Because he's already overworking Liv Ullmann.
Women in Cinema Pt. III
40/50
The Girls is a provocation, a challenge by Mai Zetterling and co. both against patriarchal relations (hard to expect anything less from a Lysistrata adaptation) and against the narrative forms of cinema under patriarchy. This film is expressionistic, staging setpieces that lift open scenes to reveal the inner psyches of the leading women of a Lysistrata production as they tour northern Sweden. In particular the filmmakers emphasize the violence of the male gaze, repeatedly subverting expected displays of sexuality. I've never seen anyone take off their clothes so angrily before; it was empowering for me.
Film School Dropouts - Week 04 - Auteur - Mai Zetterling - The Girls
Good lord, where has this been hiding? Both dramatic and experimental, chic but also kinda punk, baldly and bleakly political but so much fun — I'm a little shocked this doesn't occupy a more prominent position in "cinephile" culture. Even in books and essays and overviews specifically about films by women, I feel like I've rarely come across any writing about this. Maybe I've just been reading the wrong books?
Anyway, Zetterling really goes all out here just in terms of the variety of film language and technique she employs — so many different kinds of shots and cuts; different styles of music used in usual and unusual ways; multi-character voiceover; flashbacks, dream sequences, and pieces of Lysistrata all seamlessly…
Film School Drop Outs 2023
Week 4 - Auteur - Mai Zetterling
I knew approximately zero about Mai Zetterling prior to signing up for this year's FSDO challenge. The Swedish film and television star took to writing and directing in her middle age, to much acclaim and apparently some controversy. Three of her films recently formed a Criterion Collection box set. Of those, I found myself drawn to The Girls, which touches on the lives of three women staring in a fictional production of the timeless Greek play Lysistrata.
Lysistrata, in which the women of Greece go on a sex-strike to end war, was taught to me in in high school as one of the first known examples of dramatic…
A modern adaptation of the Ancient Greek play Lysistrata wherein women revolted to stop men from waging war. While playing their roles, the woman draw parallels between the struggles portrayed in the drama and their real life circumstances, which inspires them to take action against the men who oppress them in their own homes. A women's liberation movement takes shape where they question the roles they're forced into and unite to fight back against the patriarchy.
Starring Bibi Anderrson (Persona), Harriet Andersson (Through A Glass Darkly) and Gunnel Lindblom (The Seventh Seal); directed by Mai Zetterling (The Witches).
