A Brief History of Swedish Cinema: Films of the 1960s

Like many other countries around the world, the 1960s were an interesting decade and a decade of change in Swedish film history. Changes in the film industry system include: the establishment of the Swedish Film Academy in 1963 with strong financial support; the abolition of the film tax; and the increasing popularity of television, which has led to a dramatic decline in the number of cinema audiences. Changes in film technology include: the improvement of the 16mm film equipment originally used to shoot documentaries has allowed other types of films to use this film for more flexible shooting, and it has also made many young directors more likely to start shooting earlier. own maiden work. In addition, the more important thing is the change of ideological trends, both the influence of the French New Wave (New Wave) and the improvement of the political awareness of the society and many filmmakers at that time.

In the 1960s, there were many debut films by filmmakers. Many of these directors lacked industry experience when they made their first film. There are exceptions, such as Vilgot Sjöman, who was Ingmar Bergman's assistant, and Mai Zetterling, who was a successful actress. The backgrounds of these directors are also varied. Bo Widerberg is a former writer, Jan Troell is a teacher, and there are many from the new film school in Stockholm, such as Jarl, Lindkvist and Roy Andersson. But whatever type of experience they lack, they try to make up for it with enthusiasm and the urge to express their ideas. As new directors, even if their films lack a wide audience at the beginning and the box office cannot recover the cost, they will still be supported by the special fund set up by the Swedish Film Academy until they gradually grow into mature film directors.

The successful transition from amateur and ordinary filmmaker to famous filmmaker was an important feature of the Swedish film industry in the 1960s, and it reflects the film atmosphere of the time. But this transformation is not a pie in the sky, but the result of the filmmakers' voice for themselves and the efforts of many parties. A good example is Bo Widberg, who in 1962 published a series of articles in the Daily Express (the most influential newspaper in Sweden at the time), which were later included in the Visionen i Svensk film Swedish Films. Face to Face" book. In these essays, he challenged many of the arguments of previous critics and filmmakers, which paved the way for the way and approach to filmmaking in Sweden later on. In one of his essays, Den grumliga spegeln, Bo Widberg argues that there were only two directors in Sweden at the time who were free to make the films they wanted, Ingmar Bergman and Arne. Arne Sucksdorff. This situation is very problematic because in an era where "horizontal films" are needed, both men only made "vertical films". That is, Bergman only made films about the relationship between man and God (and demons and death), and Saxdorf only made films about the relationship between man and animals and nature, but neither of them really Make films about people's relationships with others in today's dynamic society. And this is important for Bo Widberg: "Swedish society today should be able to offer multiple perspectives, and people have made a lot of observations. I think it's allowed to hold a polygonal mirror and look at this moment, The immediate, rich society is vital.” Bo Widberg argues that other filmmakers can't make truly personal work because they're only asked to reshoot unremarkable genre films. A new generation of filmmakers should have other possibilities and abilities to make more personalized films. Two of the big ones are: new technology and new filming methods that allow them to make low-budget films, plus the Swedish Film Academy's rather generous funding support, which is earmarked for "wow" films.

One of the promoters of Swedish film reform at the time, Harry Shane, the first executive director of the Film Academy, and other influential people favored these budding filmmakers and the films they made. But because their films are different from previous expressions, their evaluations are somewhat vague at first.

Later, they gradually reached some consensus and believed that several factors are extremely important to evaluate a film: such as the novelty of the film's expression and style, the relevance of the film's information, the objectivity of reality or social criticism, psychological insight and spiritual level. Accuracy, the skill of writing, directing, and acting, and how other artistic elements of the film fit in with the film itself. While these criteria do not guarantee a good selection, they do find a number of high-quality, but not well-known, directors.

The period 1967-1973 in Sweden is often referred to as rekordåren (the record years), with a prosperous society and a steady development of the welfare state system. However, the filmmakers at the time believed that there was no reason to make a film "praising Sweden as a perfect and harmonious society", because the filmmakers were not drummers (compare to the endless theme films of a certain country today, you can really see the contrast of filmmakers' values). Instead, their films deal with challenging topics such as class systems, sexual freedom, feminism, and more, all of which are fairly candid. There are also directors who are willing to express their lives and social feelings from the perspective of ordinary Swedes, such as Roy Anderson's "Swedish Love Story" (En kärlekshistoria, 1970).

And female directors represented by May Zatlin also became a bright spot in this period. They have more their own characteristics in the expression of social issues such as feminism, gender equality and sexual liberation, which also made Swedish films have real women. Cinema concept.

It was extremely rare for an actress to turn into a director in the 1960s, and Mae Zatlin has always been a maverick. After making five short films in the UK, she gained confidence in her directing ability and filmed in 1964. In the feature film "Lovers", the bold sexual expression in the film caused a lot of controversy in Cannes. Although she did not win the award, she gained confidence because of it. Later, she not only directed, but also wrote her own screenplays, whether it was "Night Play" (Nattlek, 1966), "Dr. Glas" (1968), or "The Girls" (Flickorna, 1968), Zart With her unique and distinctive female perspective, Lin Du broke the female director's lens in the past, expressed women's discussion and exploration of self, social prejudice, politics, and gender roles, and became a representative of women's films in that period.