Sjoman, Vilgot

▪ 2007

      Swedish filmmaker (b. Dec. 2, 1924, Stockholm, Swed.—d. April 9, 2006, Stockholm), exposed and violated sexual taboos on the screen; he was credited with initiating the forthright depiction of sex in high-quality films. Sjöman wrote and directed some 25 movies and television shows, beginning with the critically well-received Älskarinnan (1962; “The Mistress”). His most notorious film, however, was Jag är nyfiken—en film i gult (1967; I Am Curious [Yellow]), an artistically successful movie that included frank sex scenes. I Am Curious (Yellow) was banned, and the U.S. Customs department seized copies of the film as being obscene. A federal court of appeals later ruled that the movie was legal under the First Amendment to the Constitution, and it was finally shown in the U.S. in 1969. Such was its notoriety by that time, however, that it became the most financially successful foreign film ever released in the U.S., a position it maintained until 1994. In 1968 Sjöman directed Jag är nyfiken—en film i blått (I Am Curious [Blue]), a slightly modified version of the same movie with the same cast.

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