I Am Curious (Yellow) (1967)

I was curious, and had I been a cat when I watched this movie I would not be sitting here telling you about it. This is, Ladies and Gentlemen, my first semi-negative review.

Much like America was changing in the 60's the same could be said for the Swedes in Vilgot Sjöman controversial "I Am Curious" series (the other part being "I Am Curious (Blue)). "I Am Curious (Yellow)" is a romp through the streets of Sweden in a decade that seemed to effect the entire world.

This movie is hard to catagorize, as it doesn't use traditional methods of Hollywood filming. In some instances it looks like its going to be a rugged documentary tackling social traditions such as a class system and civil strife (guest appearance by Martin Luther King jr.), but then quickly changes into an even more rugged voyeuristic home movie (sex on a bridge, sex in a tree, sex just about anywhere really) and every now and then there will be little game show esque interjections that only add to the confusion.

This is going to be a rather short review, as im not really a fan of this movie (i have yet to put the blue version in my dvd player for a fear i might fall asleep). I commend it for its lack of structure and unique way of filming, but only to an extent. The movie is all over the place and its hard to really keep track of the plot (is there really one?) and the characters were hard to keep track of (im not sure if it was because they were all Swedish or what), but I understand that this is only because we are following a young lady, Lena Nyman (portraying herself actually) as she finds herself in the ever changing world around her and the shooting matches her tenacity. What it really boils down to is that the movie was made for that generation of people and doesn't have much vaule to anyone else who trys to understand its meaning.

I can only recommend this film for anyone who is trying to broaden their movie horizons (as I am) because the casual viewer (don't think it will be fun to watch this movie and don't try and make a "curious" pun) will quickly be turned away from the complicated premise and lack of anything American besides MLK Jr. This is a Swedish film for the Swedish people, and even most of them won't get what the hell is going on.

Remember, curiosity isnt always a good thing.