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Anita
- The Shocking Account of a Young Nymphomaniac
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Review
by
Brian Lindsey
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5
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4 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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SNEAK
PREVIEW
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DVD Release Date:
July 24, 2007 |
SEE!
Swedish sex kitten Christina Lindberg in a role she was born
to play! Man, I'd watch her read the Stockholm telephone directory
(aloud or even to herself) as long as she's naked while doing
it...
Lindberg stars as Anita, a mentally troubled
high school girl with a body built for sin and the worst case
of Itchy Kitty Syndrome in all of Scandinavia.
An uncontrollable nymphomaniac, Anita is reduced to clumsily
approaching men on the street for sex; she'll "fuck, suck
off or jerk off" virtually any guy who says yes. And I
mean any guy... Drunks, addicts and dirty old men in
their sixties included. These sordid, desperate hookups become
something of a public embarrassment. Known as the Town Slut,
she's ostracized by her teen/college-age peers and taken advantage
of by various unsavory adults. Anita's reputation has gotten
so bad with the locals, in fact, she has to hit on strangers
arriving at the train station. Rock bottom would seem to be
reached when she resorts to shagging a middle-aged loser under
a tarp at a construction site. Anita is desperate for anonymous
sex and will dive headlong into the gutter to get some.
But why? What
has driven this pretty young lass to such degrading depths?
It all stems from a seriously dysfunctional relationship with
her unaffectionate parents — as revealed in 'therapy' sessions
with Erik (Stellan Skarsgård), a college student she meets by
chance. He somehow resists her come-ons, offering the homeless
girl a place to stay while he gives her a psychological examination
for his thesis. As Anita gradually opens up to Erik's questioning,
we're shown via flashback her emotionally unsatisfying home
life, increasingly bizarre behavior and tawdry descent into
whoredom. (These flashbacks form most of the film's first half.)
Erik seriously devotes himself to her 'case', much to the annoyance
of the music students he shares his house with in a type of
Anarcho-socialist commune.
The prognosis doesn't look good. Anita wasn't
physically abused by her parents but the completely detached,
emotionless manner in which she was raised, coupled with the
blatant favoritism shown by them for her sister, left her feeling
worthless, with zero self-esteem. Mom had no time for her, while
Dad — a career air force officer — was chiefly concerned that
his daughters be well-versed in military history. (To include
quizzing the girls over breakfast about the WWII North African
campaign... In all likelihood making Erwin Rommel the only panzer
general ever mentioned in a sex film outside the Naziploitation
genre.) Anita's psychological trauma has manifested itself as
an insatiable craving for sex, much like a drug addict in dire
need of a fix. A steady boyfriend is impossible for her, since
she'd only drain the (lucky) sap dry all the while shagging
innumerable Anonymous Johns that he'd inevitably find out about.
For this reason Anita never wants to see anyone she has sex
with ever again. Nor does she have any female friends, because
other women naturally become jealous when she tries to get in
their boyfriends' pants. She's simply incapable of forming any
kind of bond with another person. She can't attain orgasm, either,
no matter how much sex she has, which only deepens and aggravates
her despair. Erik theorizes that the only way for Anita to break
free of her sexual compulsion is to have a genuine orgasm. He'd
love to give her one himself — he's secretly fallen in love
with her, of course (not to mention she's got an absolutely
incredible body) — but holds back, telling her she's
got to work out her own solution. Our Nordic nymphette does
just that, disappearing into the city. (Her first stop: a sex
toy shop.) After a time Erik goes on a frantic search for her,
trolling all the pickup spots, not knowing what condition she'll
be in should he find her...
Christina Lindberg played a mute in Thriller:
A Cruel Picture (her best-known role); she has substantial
dialog and gets to do plenty of emoting in Anita
- The Shocking Account of a Young Nymphomaniac.
Convincing as a mentally distraught teen, she winds up in some
very sleazy situations but they're presented in realistic documentary
style instead of a leering sexploitative fashion. Occasional
oddball moments aside (Anita's striptease in front of her father's
fellow military officers, with Mom, Dad and Sis also in the
room [!], is a real eyebrow raiser), director Torgny Wickman
chose to make a mostly serious film, aiming for an arthouse
sensibility over down 'n' dirty grindhouse appeal. In my view,
the glorious Lady Lindberg — who has the wide-eyed, innocent-looking
face of a cuddly Anime character and the body of a Playboy
centerfold, seen here in her 23 year-old prime — makes the film
worth watching at least once, even if it gets a bit tedious
in between her numerous nude scenes. Just keep in mind while
that Anita may be required viewing
for devotees of the sexy starlet, it's likely too talky and
simply not titillating enough for the typical T&A-lovin'
horndog.
One thing is certain... This flick conclusively
demonstrates the inferior design of 1970s Swedish milk cartons.
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| Anita
arrives on North American DVD via Impulse Pictures' upcoming (July
'07) release. Audio is Swedish only, with English subtitles, and
sounds okay. Unfortunately the anamorphic 1.66:1 transfer looks
pretty rough — heavy grain is omnipresent, as are speckling, dirt
and debris; it's also excessively dark in spots. (The bulk of
the movie does not appear as bad as the first few minutes,
it should be noted.) That this was probably the best source material
available won't be much comfort to anybody but Lindberg worshippers,
for whom the DVD will be an essential purchase regardless. Zero
extras are included. 5/21/07 |
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