Jours de canicule

I saw this in Swedish (with no subtitles), so I'm a little unsure of the plot, but here goes: Christina Lindberg takes her clothes off a lot.

Seriously though, this movie seems to about a VERY dysfunction Swedish family living on an idyllic lake. The not-particularly-attractive mother is a prostitute who services the men who show up in boats or hydroplanes out in the family boathouse. The oafish father meanwhile serves drinks to his wife's "guests". The wife seems to be trying to introduce the teenage daughter (Lindberg) to the family business by letting her clients photograph her naked or leer at her as she sunbathes topless. Then the daughter falls in love with a boy her age, and the wife, her plans evidently threatened, plots to get rid of the guy. This in turn leads the daughter to take revenge, and the long-suffering husband meanwhile has his own sinister plans. There are some ironic twists, and by the end of the film the English title "Dog Days" will make perfect sense as the family's dog becomes the most significant remaining character.

I don't think this movie is supposed to be a comedy, but it's hard to tell. It's a little serious for an exploitation film, but also a little exploitative for a serious film. It was one of Christina Lindberg's first films. She was probably about 18 or 19 here, but in loose-fitting clothes is believable as a slightly younger character. Without clothes though she looks like a burlesque-era stripper, but that was really her whole appeal--part innocent Swedish schoolgirl, part Gypsy Rose Lee. I've seen almost all of Lindberg's films, and this is pretty much like all the rest--not very good perhaps, a little sleazy, but kind of interesting nevertheless.