I Am Curious, Film (1995)

• 50%
• 1995
• Documentary
• Stig Björkman
• Lena Nyman
• Lars von Trier
• Aki Kaurismäki

Anyone desiring a quick introduction to or stimulating recap of Scandinavian cinema will find "I Am Curious, Film" a very seductive initiation. Starting with the opening sequence of a flickering film projector from Ingmar Bergman's 1966 "Persona," Stig Björkman brings actress Lena Nyman onscreen to ferry the viewer through the film with dreamy charm. A haunting close-up of a young Greta Garbo in 1925 and the sensual dancing of silent actress Asta Nielsen evoke the origins of Nordic filmmaking. The clips, ranging from films by Victor Sjöström and Carl Th. Dreyer to Astrid Henning-Jensen and Aki Kaurismäki, are well chosen to thrill cinephiles and tantalize neophytes. Bergman keeps reappearing, as though to weave the many strands of Nordic cinema together with his magic and genius.