Baksmalla (aka (lit.) Hangover, Tenderness, Danish Love, Krapula, Memories of Love, Sex Life in Denmark)

Sweden

Klubb Super 8

Swedish with English subtitles

Ignore the “Sex Life in Denmark” nonsense. That’s just advertising hype to get more viewers to watch what is really a good drama about love and its effects on the personalities and relationships involved. Sure, there is a bit of nudity (well, quite a bit) but those who expect to see another Swedish light porno film will be disappointed. That’s about the only disappointing thing about the film, though.

The film starts with Leif, a confirmed bachelor divorcee, waking up in bed with a foot beside his head and a wedding ring on his finger. At the other end of the foot is his long-term girlfriend, Lena. They appear to have got married yesterday. Lena is also surprised – she also had no intention of marrying again after divorcing a lazy, oafish husband. She is still lost in fond memories of a holiday in Spain where she could give her sexual needs full expression with no ties. Now she is worrying that she is aging and that marriage may destroy her looks. Through a series of slightly confusing and disjointed flashbacks we see how this situation came about.

Leif saw Lena at a coffee shop one day and haunted the shop in the hope of meeting her. When they finally met they hit it off and soon became bed partners. One morning Lena was surprised to find Leif’s other girlfriend, or possibly his ex-wife, walking naked around his house. Instead of a catfight, though, the two girls seemed to hit it off in spite of Leif’s promiscuity.

From there the affair developed to the current marriage situation. Leif has reined in his sexual exploits with other girls and curtailed his alcoholic habit. Lena has told him intimate secrets of her past. Little by little the two have drawn together but both still profess to want to remain single. Now that a drunken night’s spur-of-the-moment decision has led them to marry, can their relationship survive? Or will they divorce again so they can keep their single but rather lonely status?

For its age the film is remarkably good. The questions raised are just as relevant today and the attitudes of the characters are still realistic. The acting is superb, and even filtered through some sloppy subtitling the dialogue is intelligent and natural. Writer / director / lead actor Jorn Donner has produced a really good human drama film. Diana Kjaer, apart from being absolutely gorgeous, plays her part with just the right hesitancy of a person who doesn’t want to get too deeply into a relationship.

The Klubb Super 8 transfer to DVD is good quality with only a few minor colour glitches and jumps to show how old the master film or videotape is. It should help to dispel the myth that the Swedes only made porno films.

Now, about all those names. Apart from trying to get more bums on seats in theatres many countries appear to have had the film recut to suit their viewers’ tastes. Generally it was a matter of adding more nude shots. The DVD includes one of the “spiced up” versions with more nudity and less plot for those countries that preferred their films to be more titillating. Frankly I prefer the Swedish version.

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