In Remembrance: Vilgot Sjoman

     Vilgot Sjoman, the Swedish director of the controversial 1967 film I Am Curious (Yellow), has passed away in Stockholm, Sweden on April 9, 2006. He was 81.

     Born in Stockholm on December 2, 1924, Sjoman studied film at UCLA on a six-month scholarship in 1956 and worked on George Seaton’s film The Proud And The Profane. Returning to Sweden, he worked with director Ingmar Bergman on the 1962 film Winter Light.

     Following his 1962 critically acclaimed debut The Mistress, Sjoman shocked Sweden with his film 491 (1964), a scathing look at Christian ethics. The film was briefly banned in Sweden and ignited a nationwide debate on censorship.

     Sjoman would create even bigger controversy with I Am Curious (Yellow) which attacked the Swedish class system with an outrageous mix of sexuality and politics. In January 1968 prints of the film were seized by United States Customs officials claiming that they were pornographic and obscene. The seizure resulted in the film being banned in the United States for two years before a federal appeals court ruled that it was protected by the First Amendment. The legal battle helped ignite interest in the film, helping to make it the most successful foreign film in the United States for more than two decades. It spawned a 1968 sequel, I Am Curious (Blue).

     Other films directed by Sjoman include My Sister, My Love (1966), Garaget (The Garage, 1975), Tabu (Taboo, 1977) and Fallgropen (The Pitfall, 1989). His final film was Alfred, the 1995 Swedish bio-pic of Alfred Nobel.