Anita - The Shocking Account Of A Young Nymphomaniac
Sweden | 1973
Directed by Torgny Wickman
Starring
Christina Lindberg
Stellan Skarsgård
Danièle Vlaminck
Color | 95 Minutes | Not Rated
Format: DVD (R0 - NTSC)
Impulse Pictures
The lovely Ms. Lindberg.
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"Get out! You're done picking up guys in here!"
She'll do ANYBODY.
"My God... Look how she's behaving!"
Stripping for Dad's buddies.
Breakfast with Erik.
"You just want to fuck, right?"
Quest for the Big "O".
ANITA (DVD)
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ANITA - THE SHOCKING ACCOUNT OF A YOUNG NYMPHOMANIAC
Bare Flesh
 
Movie Rating  
5
  DVD Rating   4   10 = Highest Rating  
SNEAK PREVIEW | DVD Release Date: July 24, 2007
SEE! Babe-a-licious 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.

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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