Scandinavian Blue: The Erotic Cinema of Sweden and Denmark in the 1960s and 1970s

by Jack Stevenson

This book traces the development of modern Scandinavian erotic cinema as it evolved in Denmark and Sweden, from the gentle Swedish naturalist films, starting with One Summer of Happiness in the 50s, to the controversial groundbreakers like I Am Curious (Yellow) of the 60s and on through to the dawn of "Liberated Denmark," where, in the early 70s, the abolition of censorship was celebrated in films like 24 Hours with Ilse and the production of a number of other films that were blatantly pornographic. Also considered is the influence of these films on other countries, particularly the United States, where Scandinavian erotic cinema helped to set in motion the sexual revolution and contributed to the end of film censorship.

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 11, 2010

Reviews

[Anna Biller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm sorry I never reviewed this earlier, Jack. I know I promised I would, but I was so self-conscious about my writing in those days that I got stage fright. Now that I myself am an author, I know that the only important thing when a friend has a book out is broadcasting to the world how great it is. So I humbly apologize. And although I am more than a decade late, I want to finally say that this is an extraordinary work: thoughtful, detailed, erudite, thought-provoking, lovingly rendered, and educational. It taught me so many things about that turbulent era of film, when censorship codes were being lifted all over the world, and about how much Scandinavia contributed to that shift. Interestingly, this book explains that it was the humanism and fairness of the Swedish culture that led to this result, rather than either prurience or an especially liberal attitude towards sex. Anyway, it's a stunning piece of historical research, and anyone who is interested in the cinema of the 1960s and '70s, and especially in early softcore and hardcore Scandinavian cinema, should read this book.