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Released by: Impulse Pictures
Released on: June 24th, 2008.
Director: Dan Wolman
Cast: Christina Lindberg, Monica Ekman, Kriter Ekman, Leif Naeslund
Year: 1971
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Maid In Sweden - Movie Review:
An American-Swedish co-production bankrolled by none other than Cannon Films, Maid In Sweden has been at the top of many a Lindberg fan's wish list for some time now. While the film follows a formula almost to a fault, it features enough of Christina in her birthday suit to more than make up for whatever shortcomings might be in the script.
Lindberg plays a sixteen year old girl named Inga who decides to leave her small town for a weekend to hang out with her older sister, Greta (and her creepy boyfriend), in the big city of Stockholm. Upon her arrival, it doesn't take Inga long to discover that her foxy good looks and charming naivety are what every man wants. She decides to roll with it and before you know it, this cute country milkmaid has blossomed into womanhood in a big, big way.
The plot for this film is wafer thin at best and you get the impression that the filmmakers knew this ahead of time. You also get the impression that they knew the best way to combat this was to get Lindberg naked and throw her into bed with some guy, have her writhe around pleasuring herself, or put her in the shower while the camera lingers over her. Well, it works. Lindberg is as charming as she is beautiful here and while the rape scenes may put some viewers off, Lindberg's completely uninhibited performance will likely win you over. She's obviously very comfortable with herself and with nudity even at this early stage in her career, likely due to the modeling and pin up work she'd done prior, and the cinematography milks that for all its worth.
It's interesting to see how this film would set the stage for the rest of Lindberg's film career. While this wasn't the first film of hers to get theatrical play, it was the first one she shot and the character she plays in this picture seems to have typecast her as it's really not very far removed from every other role she took. I guess if it ain't broke don't fix it.
Maid In Sweden did play in American theaters through Cannon (and in fact this DVD still has the Cannon logo at the beginning) in both R and X rated versions with the salacious tagline of 'Inga At Sixteen, Her Coming Of Age' appearing on the one sheet underneath a black and white photograph of a writing Lindberg looking very much like she's enjoying herself. This DVD bares an R rating on the back though there aren't any obvious cuts evident in the print leading one to wonder if the X was bumped down to an R or if the X was simply self-implied in the first place.
Maid In Sweden - DVD Review:
Impulse presents Maid In Sweden in a fullframe presentation that looks open matte for most of its running time if the headroom at the top is anything to go by. It's unlikely that this is the film's theatrical aspect ratio but the compositions don't look bad on the DVD. The image quality is less than perfect, taken from an old master rather than a new telecine, and detail is sometimes soft and the picture often flat looking. It's all watchable, but this is far from a great picture and sadly it's not been flagged for progressive scan playback.
The English language Dolby Digital Mono track is also a little disappointing. While the dialogue is always clear, there are a few spots that are a little muffled, again probably due to whatever elements were used for this DVD. There's also some minor hum in the background throughout the entire film.
For the first time in the company's history, Impulse has actually included a couple of extra features on one of their DVDs! Things start off with a 2007 interview with Christina Lindberg (10:18) who confirms that this was her first film role and that she took it while she was still in school at the age of eighteen. She also talks about her modeling career, noting that she was discovered one day while lounging on the beach. She mentions that the film was made in Stockholm in three weeks time, and that she skipped out of school to make the shoot. She also gives her thoughts on nudity, how she more or less plays the same girl in all of her movies, and how many of the pictures she starred in play to the traditional male fantasy. All in all this is a pretty interesting, if all too short, interview and it's nice to see Lindberg so comfortable with her filmography. It isn't very well shot and the camera swings towards the ground at its very abrupt conclusion but at least the content is solid.
Also included is the film's original U.S. theatrical trailer (2:47), some static menus, and chapter selection - all of which are presented in anamorphic widescreen. While it would have been nice to see the original poster art used on the cover, you really can't complain with Impulse's replacement image.
Maid In Sweden - The Final Word:
While Maid In Sweden may not be Lindberg's finest performance, it's her first feature film and nicely foreshadows what would come later in her career. The A/V presentation leaves a lot of room for improvement but the film holds up well and the interview is a nice bonus.
