Les Impures

This is a good solid well made film and not at all like I expected. Indeed although there is much sexual activity depicted, we see nothing like as much of Christina Lindberg as we do in say, Exposed. Because the film is serious we do not get an exploitative showing of the leading lady's numerous liaisons and due to the constant reminding that these are desperate encounters of an unhappy young girl, we find ourselves in a rather uncomfortable position for most of the time. There are moments, nevertheless! For those that reckon Lindberg cannot act, she certainly does well enough here in many a varied situation, be it talking with her psychiatrist chum, trying to relate to her parents, or sucking some old man's d***. Stellan Skarsgard, who plays the said psychiatrist, and very convincingly too, he had a most illustrious career ahead of him and is still very much working today, having appeared and even sung in Mamma Mia! Worth seeing but it is rather downbeat a lot of the time.

The best thing about "Anita" is that is supposed to work within the sexploitation genre, and it is actually a subtle and insightful social critique -well, at least in the first sixty minutes. To someone who's looking for crude, hardcore sex scenes (myself included), this movie is may be disappointing, but for a feminist researcher the movie's angle points out and contextualizes patriarchy and domination as main causes of social "ilness." Just watch the perspective of the movie, and you'll see a "lylja-for-ever" for the seventies.

In addition, the movie suggests an interesting development of the relationship between the psychology student/psychoanalyst/'doctor' and his patient Anita. At one point, you can see the parallel between the authoritarian/ disengaged father and the psychoanalyst, and both of them are exercising power over the nymphomaniac character. However, Hendrix becomes involved in the story (he hangs on the door where the full human contact-I mean the orgasm- takes place), and we get a sweaty non-convincing highly idealized ending.

I would watch this movie again to see: 1. the construction of anita's character as an outcast 2. the whole symbolism behind the young student's actions: feeding her, putting the band aides on, offering her a community where she is actually defended 3. the dysfunctional family 4. the sad scenes of sex that reminds me how the porn industry is using my fantasies. but hey, I kinda like this, though...

Anita: Swedish Nymphet (1973)

** (out of 4)

Cult star Christina Lindberg of Thriller: A Cruel Picture fame stars as Anita, a 16-year-old girl who has to have sex and it doesn't matter with who. She picks up lawyers, junkies, little boys, drunks or even the homeless. Her sexual behavior gets her kicked out of towns but one day she meets a doctor who thinks he can help her. This Swedish picture is rather strange because it's certainly a sexploitation title and the main goal is for the beautiful Lindberg to get naked every chance she gets but the overall tone of the movie is so serious that it's hard to have fun with the film. The story is pretty straight forward, which means it gets pretty boring as it rarely goes over the top outside of a 16-year-old wanting any guy she can get. As for Lindberg, this is only the second film I've seen with her but she certainly deserves her cult status. She's certainly easy on the eyes but unlike a lot of erotic stars, she can also act and she brings a lot life to her character.

I came across this flick for one reason, I talked years ago to Christina Lindberg at a convention about Thriller, another 1973 flick famous in the horror genre. Signing my DVD and taking apic she suddenly started to talk about Anita from the same year. A complete different movie.

Here she's a seventeen nymphomaniac who is seeking help with a psycology student. And look, Stellan Skarsgard, who became a notorious thespian.

Pure exploitation this is, but even as it is a bit slow it still stands up due the story and message given. Made in the era of hardcore and it's a fact that all girls in the flick has to walk around naked, full frontal.

Due the underlaying message I had to see how it should end. So here and there a bit too slow but still worth seeing for the views back then and Christina in a complete different role and lets not dorget Skarsgard.

Gore 0/5 Nudity 3/5 Effects 0/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

People debate today whether there really is such a thing as nymphomania, or if it was just a term pinned on women who tried to lead a naturally healthy sex life back in much more repressive, Victorian times when such a thing was not permissible. One thing's for sure though , if this particular movie is based on a real story as it claims to be, this girl definitely had a serious problem. The girl in this movie (played by Cristina Lindberg) , will sleep with anybody, and I do mean ANYBODY. This turns her into a social outcast (because of course, nobody likes a beautiful girl who wants to have sex all the time). She's like a junkie in her compulsion, begging for the key to a friend's apartment so she can have quickies with unattractive businessmen she picks up at the train station. And when one kindly elderly guy tries to console her after an unsatisfying sexual encounter, she drops to her knees to give him the b.j. of his life.

All this is treated in a very serious, at times almost depressing manner, and Lindberg gives a very earnest performance. Since I doubt too many people then or now watched this movie out of concern for the social problem of nymphomania (more likely they wanted to know where they could find a girl like this), this move and Lindberg's performance may seem pretty campy. I have to say though I'd much rather see a movie like this that sets out to be somewhat serious and falls into camp than a movie that aims at camp and falls flat on its face. And though Lindberg will never be mentioned in the same breath as Greta Garbo, her overly seriously performance here is infinitely better than most modern-day "cult actresses" and "scream queens" camping and mugging their way through movies that they (very erroneously) consider beneath their talents.

In any case, campy or not, this movie definitely succeeds as exploitation thanks to Lindberg doffing her duds every five minutes or so. If you've never seen Cristina Lindberg, she's kind of like really sexy mutant or mythical beast--she has the face of an innocent teenage Swedish schoolgirl attached to the body of a voluptuous burlesque-era stripper (which is not at all to say that her appeal is limited to those who dig schoolgirls or burlesque strippers). Her most memorable scene here is where she and her goody-good twin sister are singing for their parents' friends and she turns the occasion into an impromptu full-monty striptease. And if you are a fan of Lindberg, or become one after this movie, also check her out in "Thriller--a Cruel Picture" (a favorite of Quentin Tarantino), her first film "Maid in Sweden", the German "schulmadchen report" films in which she was a regular, and the unbelievably depraved film "Depraved" (sadly unavailable in English). She's almost always worth the price of admission all by herself.