Rent A Swedish Love Story (1970)

Very Swedish 1970 teen crush film now famous for the first screen appearance of Bjorn Anderson - A Swedish Love Story review by PV

This very dated film of its time (1970) is famous for featuring the first appearance of Bjorn Andersen, in a non-speaking moped-posing tough teen boy role, who the next year 1971 went on to star in Death in Venice and be leered over by Italian film directors and their mates. Watch THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOY IN THE WORLD to see where that led.

This film is very 1970, very Swedish, and cringe-worthy - beyond the usual gauche teenage crush stuff. That infatuation and the things it causes are actually the least interesting part of this film.

The second half or last half house is by far the most interesting, a satire on the manners of modern Swedish society - I shall not say 'post war; as Sweden was neutral on BOTH world wars of the 20th C and in fat collaborated with Germany making a fortune manufacturing guns and armaments for them - how Sweden got very rich - by making the bombs and bullets that killed British soldiers and civilians, and other Allies fighting the Nazis which Swedes never did (unlike Norwegians). Someone tell Greta. No moral leg to stand on.

Sweden actually looks like a pretty awful place, all small dark flats in blocks, a deep class system where the workers stay in manual or sales jobs with no ambition for more, where so long as they have their country cottage and annual midsomer crayfish festival all is well with the world. Deeply conservative actually, despite the law 'anything goes' porn and sex laws of the time.

The father of the girl is the star character in that last half hour, who nails it.

This would have been 2 stars for the cringe-worthy teenage crush stuff. The dad's meltdown in the last half hour smashes through the cosy family set up like a fist. I loved that so 3 stars because of him.