Released in succession following Yellow, I Am
Curious¡ªBlue was not met with a reception similar to its
predecessor, and has gone virtually unseen in the US since its
release.
The film opens in a manner similar to Yellow:
chanting voices are heard demanding that the film be bought.
There is a veiled tactic to this humor. Both films draw
attention to radical politics, and the chanting (¡°Buy our
film!¡±) is a request for the viewer to subscribe to the film¡¯s
political aims.
Yellow¡¯s attack on the Swedish class system is
supplanted with commentary on sexual roles and religion in
Blue. There is a central, extended sequence involving
Lena and a discussion with a devout teenage male. As with most
of her subjects, the male ¨C though tied firmly to his politics
and religion ¨C is close-minded, or at least Lena intends to
illustrate this trait. However, Lena¡¯s discussion merely
acknowledges his hypocrisy without supplying her own opinions.
For every choice Lena has a retaliation, be it
abstinence for her boyfriend after she is indirectly informed
of his child, and she has so many her actions become
contradictive. She studies nonviolence, yet in a fantasy
shoots her lover and removes his penis. Although Lena¡¯s
actions are hypocritical, they display the extent of her
political interest; she is a textbook activist, and her every
action is in some way reactionary.
Narratively the films are out of sequence. Actions
occur in Blue that were resolved prior in
Yellow. This is a curious tactic. It seems intended to
individualize each film, yet they are clearly counterparts,
and, if anything, only benefit from their relationship. Sjöman
has stated that the films are parallel and simultaneous; blue
and yellow are components of the Swedish flag, and must exist
in unison.
Blue suggests that liberal thinking (available
in the young and repressed) is necessary for political
evolution. Its argument suggests that Sweden¡¯s politics are
stagnant; if change is necessary is arguable, yet such a
change would require radical action.
Sjöman has stated that the existence of two films is
because of the amount of shot footage, and as companions
cohere his aims. Blue has the same characters and tone
of Yellow, yet is not an extension of the previous
film, only a rendition of the same treaded ground. If
anything, Blue is far less effective (it is even
boring) than its notorious counterpart.
From www.notcoming.com
<
BACK