Loving Couples
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Film: B-
Actress Mai Zetterling’s directing debut with Loving
Couples (1964) is still an ambitious film, based on the work of Feminist
writer Agnes von Krusenstjerna. This
was a decade before Lina Wertmuller (see her films elsewhere on this site) made
triumphant headway with her work or that there could be female directors with
something to stay and staying power at the same time.
The film attempts to delve into the female psyche through
several eras ands several characters, including flashbacks and that includes
some painful instances. At the time,
this was rare for a woman to expose the untold downside of how men try to use
women at every turn and at every age.
The film does not hate men and is often critical of certain women as
well. The story literally goes from
birth, to growth, maturity, decline and death, if not in that order. The film has aged well, if lacking some edge
in the eroticism department. That is
good, proving cinema has made some progress, but this is still superior to most
such offerings, particularly since the 1980s.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.66 X 1 image was shot in
black and white by the great Sven Nykvist, F.S.F., and this transfer is not bad
in capturing the look typical of this master’s work. However, fading white credits on the print were always a problem
since the film’s original release and there are some detail issues. Despite having Nykvist and other actors from
Ingmar Bergman’s films, this picture is not synthetic Bergman. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is just fine,
with Swedish dialogue decent for its age and more vivid white English
subtitles. Extras include text on
Zetterling (bio/filmography information), stills, a nice 12-page booklet inside
the DVD case that includes two essays, stills & the poster inside the front
cover and an the DVD also has an intriguing, 15-minutes-long color short by
Zetterling from 1962 called The War Game. All in all, another winner from New Yorker and Project X.
- Nicholas Sheffo
