Solemplex
To me, this movie is perfection.
Lovesusti
The Worst Film Ever
ReaderKenka
Let's be realistic.
Beystiman
It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.
Emil Bakkum
The film "I am curious - blue" is the twin of "I am curious - yellow". In the film the producers even use this similarity between the two as an argument to recommend their acquisition ("Now also available in blue"). Since I already have reviewed the latter, the present comments can be succinct. Both films are made in the style of the nouvelle vague. This type of films appeared mainly in the roaring sixties and early seventies, launched by innovative producers. Both the blue and yellow version are political films, notably about Swedish life, and presented in the style of a documentary. Remember the wise words of the French writer Paulhan: "All I ask is that politicians change the world, and not also the truth". In fact the script is replete with bizarre arguments. One wonders what is meant to be satire and what not. Whereas the yellow version still contains a love story, of the leading woman Lena, the blue version is just a sequence of interviews. It addresses the then topics of interest: the inequality of income, nonviolent resistance, imprisonment, religion, and of course sexuality (including homosexual relations and sexual diseases). If men got pregnant, they would not think twins were so cute (joke, to keep this review entertaining). While in principle the reconsideration of the social norms was indeed befitting, "I am curious" follows the nasty New Left habit of abolishing all norms without replacement by new ones. The viewer is simply encouraged to experiment and discover his or her own boundaries (see the title). Evidently this is a poor recipe for success. Thus the "I am curious" couple tends to endorse stupidity, albeit presented in a tone of moral superiority. You do not have a dirty mind, but introspective pornographic moments. You are not sleeping around, but monogamically challenged. This qualifies the films as accurate images of the time, but also makes them out of date and somewhat unpleasant to watch. Moreover I find the blue version less funny than the yellow one. The reader may decide for him- or herself whether "I am curious" deserves a closer examination. Don't hesitate to leave a comment. I love it.
MisterWhiplash
I Am Curious: Blue is the second version, almost interchangeable in the respects of a) certain scenes overlapping or just cut and pasted from version Yellow to version Blue and b) many similar themes and the same characters, following version Yellow. Both films look at Sweden in the late 1960s, and it's all filtered through the unique perspective of Vilgot Sjoman, who makes a cinematic smoothie, if you will, of documentary, 'making-the-movie' dramatic scenes, drama involving the character Lena, scientific type questions posed by Lena (in glasses of course!), and a good deal of sex and nudity to keep the art-houses lapping up at the mouth. It's also potentially one of the most pretentious art-house experiments ever concocted, but at the same time its own self-consciousness and "Hey, it's a movie about movies, so lets make this movie and then forget its a movie for a while until I, Sjoman, pop up on screen again" style has its advantages for the willing participant.Basically, there is no exact "plot" to either of the I Am Curious movies, and arguably even less so in Blue. While there is some connection to be made with Lena (Lena Nyman) and a married man, it's once again like Yellow mostly an amalgamation of interviews Lena does with everyday Swedes (topics this time range from wealth and jobs and income to religion to boys and girls at a dance) and Lena's wanderings in the Swedish countryside doing either her own kind of sociological experiments (or, as well, going skinny-dipping with a friend or not knowing she has scabies), or responding to Sjoman, who makes himself a character as a "director" of the project. It's hard to peg Sjoman, since he has created what is an alternate universe for himself to act in, which can be both fun and occasionally dull. Lena, however, is only somewhat talented as an actress, better at asking tough questions (I do love the scene with her and the Catholic stooge in the car) and taking her clothes off than giving a fully rounded performance.In general, from my point of view, Blue isn't quite as consistently fascinating as Yellow. It stands out fair enough as far as the parts go- everything involving the interviews or docu/drama type things like Lena bicycling the opposite way of protesters is at least captivating and at most some of the best stuff of either movies- but on the whole its experimental style doesn't flow quite as well. Yet I still recommend it because it's attached to the Yellow part - the only movie that comes in two versions! Sort of.
jackmunro
I saw both of these movies on a double bill in 1970 (which means I actually paid to watch this rubbish). Interestingly, although I was very naive at the time, I was not the least bit turned on by any of the sexual content of the films, which was meant to be daring for the time. Furthermore, I could find no justification for the same movie being presented twice with different names (yellow and blue).Funny thing! I tried to submit this comment as above. However, the system told me I had to write 10 lines. My problem was thinking of 10 lines to discuss such junk. I notice that not too many people have commented on the movies. Either they have not seen them or they also had trouble with finding 10 lines.
zetes
Looking at the number of imdb voters for both the I Am Curious films, it seems that few who watch the first end up watching the second (there are 194 votes for Yellow, and 46 for Blue). That's not surprising. Four hours of near-randomness is surely a bit difficult to sit through. And the four hours provide limited rewards. Yet, as one of the few who actually did finish both films, I hardly feel unrewarded. In fact, I think, having seen it all, the sum is greater than the parts. Sjöman does present a kaleidoscope of emotion and thoughts, all very fragmentary, of course, but the fragments are currently drifting around in my mind. I Am Curious might not be a ton of fun to sit through, but I think the films will be a part of me for longer than I might have originally guessed. As a closing note, I must say that the films' lead actress, Lena Nyman, gives an extraordinary performance, which is another aspect that isn't very obvious if you've just seen Yellow. She runs the entire gamut of emotion. As an actress who is certainly being horribly objectified by her director, she ends up coming out on top of it. If there's one thing I'll take out of the films, it's the sight of her dark, sad, curious gaze. She went on to better things, for example, Ingmar Bergman's Autumn Sonata. Bergman surely realized her talent. I don't remember much in that film besides the two lead performances, who, even if there were a thousand other talented performers in it, would have drawn every ounce of attention towards themselves. I'll have to check it out a second time some day to find Nyman. 7/10.