The Swedish film title 'Skärgårdsflirt' translates as 'The Flirtatious Woman of the Archipelago' ... the archipelago being a resort area (the Skärgård) near Stockholm. This film takes place in one of the most scenically beautiful regions of Sweden, but unfortunately the plot takes place mostly indoors ... and the exterior photography simply doesn't do justice to the ostensible setting of the storyline.
Österman and his wife Augusta are a middle-aged couple living in the bucolic Skärgård. They've scrimped their whole lives, but managed to accumulate just enough money for their retirement. And they've raised a fine strapping son, Erik ... who is unofficially engaged to wed his childhood sweetheart Inga, the farmgirl next-door over. Erik and Inga are ready to settle down together and raise Swedish meatballs ... but then along comes a blonde temptress named Lily, a slut from the big city. We see lots of shots of Karin Ekelund (the blowsy actress in the title role) with backlighting to emphasise her long flaxen tresses. I was intrigued that a film made in Sweden (where blondness is commonplace) would still use blonde hair to symbolise sexual exoticism and loose morals.
Lily promptly seduces Erik away from Inga, to the distress of everyone else in the archipelago. But then (SPOILERS COMING) a fire breaks out in Inga's thatched cottage ... the one she lives in, I mean. Things are getting hot for Erik and Lily, but - when Erik finds out that things are getting even hotter for Inga - he rushes home to rescue her. And of course, he realises that he really loves her after all. Yumping yiminy!
There are no surprises in this very slight film. To pad out this very lightweight plot into a feature-length movie, there are several long and heavy-handed 'comedy' sequences, featuring a couple of implausible servants in the Österman household: Nils Lundell as a folksy farmhand, and Rut Holm as a feather-brained parlourmaid. There's also a by-the-numbers subplot, in which Erik's parents lose their nest egg in a crooked investment ... but then they conveniently win a much larger sum in the sweepstake pools. I'll rate this movie 3 points out of 10, and Ay tank Ay go home now.
Österman and his wife Augusta are a middle-aged couple living in the bucolic Skärgård. They've scrimped their whole lives, but managed to accumulate just enough money for their retirement. And they've raised a fine strapping son, Erik ... who is unofficially engaged to wed his childhood sweetheart Inga, the farmgirl next-door over. Erik and Inga are ready to settle down together and raise Swedish meatballs ... but then along comes a blonde temptress named Lily, a slut from the big city. We see lots of shots of Karin Ekelund (the blowsy actress in the title role) with backlighting to emphasise her long flaxen tresses. I was intrigued that a film made in Sweden (where blondness is commonplace) would still use blonde hair to symbolise sexual exoticism and loose morals.
Lily promptly seduces Erik away from Inga, to the distress of everyone else in the archipelago. But then (SPOILERS COMING) a fire breaks out in Inga's thatched cottage ... the one she lives in, I mean. Things are getting hot for Erik and Lily, but - when Erik finds out that things are getting even hotter for Inga - he rushes home to rescue her. And of course, he realises that he really loves her after all. Yumping yiminy!
There are no surprises in this very slight film. To pad out this very lightweight plot into a feature-length movie, there are several long and heavy-handed 'comedy' sequences, featuring a couple of implausible servants in the Österman household: Nils Lundell as a folksy farmhand, and Rut Holm as a feather-brained parlourmaid. There's also a by-the-numbers subplot, in which Erik's parents lose their nest egg in a crooked investment ... but then they conveniently win a much larger sum in the sweepstake pools. I'll rate this movie 3 points out of 10, and Ay tank Ay go home now.