Sweden Porno: Blonde Animal

The things that I do for this site. Here I am, starting off on the first of 88 Films range of Nikkatsu’s Roman Porno releases, or at least the first one in my pile. Even before I inserted the disc I had a feeling it would be the worst by a long stretch, but I knew whatever else the film could be, it could surprise, it could be terrible, but if so all I needed to do was to remind myself that good pink films exist: just witness Third Window’s releases of Bumpkin Soup, Love Hotel, Pink Films volumes 1 to 6; check out Trapped in Lust bundled by Arrow on their release of Branded to Kill; as well as the old HB Films with their terrible print of Street of Joy. Pink films can be genuinely unusual, interesting and experimental. What did I begin with? One of six films made by Nikkatsu in Sweden - yes, Sweden Porno: Blonde Animal. Sex in swinging, seventies Stockholm.  

Older couple, Jim and Blonde Animal #1 bed-hop, tempting the younger and innocent Goran and Blonde Animal #2 into promiscuous adventures.

About two-thirds of the way into this mercifully short, 63-minute, film, I wondered if there would be a synopsis I could write. Finally some sort of narrative – I use the term as loosely as possible – emerged, but mainly it is fair to say that Blonde Animal is about as plotless as you can imagine. I don’t even name the two women because I don’t think they are ever named in the film, unlike innocent Goran and lascivious Jim.  

The film is perhaps best described by its opening: introduced to a hotel room in which there is Jim, who likes to complain about how tired he is. And there is Blonde Animal #1, who tempts him into the bedroom, which he reluctantly retires to despite telling us time and again how tired he is. It must be tough to be Jim. But Jim is a real man, and real men can always find time to then get into bed with women who moan and say “Jim” a lot, while always keeping their pants on. And always to an elevator jazz soundtrack. Erotic this is not. Unless the odd groping of breast is your thing. There’s no context, it’s just softcore silliness to a dull soundtrack, about erotic as someone slapping two wet fish together as someone off-screen moans your name. The moans and whisperings of Jim, I should add, are in Japanese as the whole film is dubbed. Maybe the original actors were able to imbue more emotion to it. Who knows?

That said what disappoints most is that there are aspects that have an edge. When first we fully meet Blonde Animal #2 and Goran, all innocence in a bar; behind them sexy Jim (irony intended) sees her, is interested, perhaps has seen her before, perhaps not. And before he makes his move, despite her being with another man, we see him at the bar and there’s a really arresting image, with the camera looking down from the ceiling, which evokes a sense of sweaty awkwardness going on inside Jim. So perhaps director Masanao Sakao could come up with some intriguing images when he tried.

The same is true when, after an overlong scene of Blonde Animal #1 picking up Goran in a rock club, we see them at first through a window and there is an eerie voyeurism to it. It feels forbidden. When we do enter the scene and have to suffer more soft moaning and this time reiterations of “Goran”. Again, they try and do something with the camera, shooting them from above ceiling and allowing the image to spin 360, as if to try liven things up, though you notice often they are slightly out of focus. But at least it’s better than most of the scene where the camera is pretty static.  

Towards the end of the film when we realise some aspect of plot, when both couples meet in the rock club (cue a dancing sequence that will go on too long, again). Blonde Animal #1 leads Goran outside and again they are framed, this time by a gold gate and the sense of this being forbidden is reinforced; also we feel Goran being trapped by Blonde Animal #1. Then, Jim taking Blonde Animal #2 to the hotel, is shot in stark opposition to the opening, he is sexually aggressive, almost violent; the camera angles are sharp and the soundtrack no longer soft insipid jazz but hard rock and Blonde Animal #2 seems almost in shock, though the film hasn’t the emotional intelligence to help us understand what she is feeling: fear, numb shock, as she seems like a cold doll like creature. It’s a shame as often when we see Blonde Animal #2 and Goran, there is an innocence there, and a sense of there being some form of affection. Even when they get their obligatory sex scene, it is filmed more gently and there’s more than a hint that she had been a virgin but no more.  

But for all that there are moments that suggest delicacy; there are the sequences such as what seems to be some lesbian sex club – which we are suddenly shown without much context beyond a cut away to a few fliers and posters for sex clubs. Anyway, we get a sequence of I cannot remember how many minutes, of two women getting it on. Why? You can only assume it’s been introduced for exoticism, for men in cinemas to ogle as it has absolutely nothing to do with anything that happens at all, it’s just plonked in there, such as is at the very end Brunette Animal #1, who is sleeping with Jim? Where did she come from? No idea. And my god she looks bored, like counting the seconds until the camera is turned off and she can get paid.

If you were trying to generous to the film, you might argue the director was trying to make a Roman Porno version of Masumura's Manji, Swedish style. I doubt though it had much of a script.  

Ultimately Blonde Animal is an oddity, an historical film, more of interest for its unusual context and best introduced as an extra on another release, for those that want to better understand filmmaking of the period. As a standalone release it’s a bit tiresome, even if it does have sparks of interest throughout. That said it was sold on an offer where it could be picked up free if you bought the other three releases by 88 Films of the first Roman Porno releases, so in a sense it was a freebie, but for anyone buying this full price, unless fascinated by Roman Porno, it would be a dull affair.