Inga (1968) User Reviews

Sex comedy taken far too seriously

[rlcsljo · 6/10 · 5 October 2002]

Those poor Swedish blokes: they have all these gorgeous women just itching to have their cherries popped, and of course they aren't the slightest bit interested, unless they are over 35 and cant get any (yeah, right!).

In this film, sex is taken far to seriously, as though it were necessary to maintain life itself.

Poor Inga appears to be the last reluctant virgin in Sweden, and of course she is the object of desire for every guy in the country, it seems.

This movie was definitely one of the first films to treat, rather extensive nudity and sexuality in the same film.

The journey of 1000 miles begins with a giant step in the right direction.

Swedish Erotica

[NoDakTatum · 6/10 · 5 October 2023]

Writer/director Joseph Sarno gives us a shocking, erotic, hot, sexy film- if you first saw it in 1968. Greta (Monica Strommerstedt) has problems. She is an ancient thirty-three year old and still trying to party like she was a teen. She has a mopey boyfriend named Karl (Casten Lassen), who is twenty-one and fancies himself a writer. Greta supports him, and he is draining her for all she is worth. Enter Einar (Thomas Ungewitter), who is looking for female companionship ever since his wife went to the sanitarium. He sure likes himself the Greta, and they bed down. Karl has extra-curricular activities of his own, bedding a hot blonde. Then comes Inga (Marie Liljedahl), Greta's niece. Greta and annoying maid Frida (Else-Marie Brandt) conspire to get Einar to fall for Inga, providing Greta with cash so she can still keep Karl. Unfortunately, Karl and Inga grow closer, too. Who will end up claiming Inga? Karl? Einar? Or Gunnar, the guy who deflowers women after mock court proceedings at crazed drunken parties?

This was groundbreaking stuff back in the day, but it would barely garner an "R" rating today. For one thing, the film is black and white, which makes it look and play older than it is. Sarno obviously decided to make Inga the main character during filming, she does not really become part of the central plot until almost half way through. His direction is okay, his script has shadowings of "Dangerous Liaisons," and is sometimes quite clever. Aunt Greta looks a lot like Tina Fey, which can be disconcerting. I am not saying Fey isn't attractive, she is, but I kept expecting some snark to fall out of her mouth. Ungewitter is obviously younger than his character Einar, with unconvincing gray makeup slopped on his temples. Again, Frida is so annoying, you will wish someone would smack her between the eyes with her spatula. "Inga" was followed by "The Seduction of Inga," an unintentionally hilarious sequel made in color- this film has more than enough closure at the end, but apparently you cannot get enough of a good thing.

Early softcore

[BandSAboutMovies · 6/10 · 12 August 2022]

After her mother dies, Inga (former ballet dancer Marie Liljedahl, who really hit the trifecta of late sixties sleaze being in this Joe Sarno movie and its sequel The Seduction of Inga, Massimo Dallamano's Dorian Gray and Jess Franco's Eugenie... The Story of Her Journey into Perversion; she retired from acting by the time she was 21) goes to live with her aunt Greta (Monica Strömmerstedt), who only wants to set her up with a rich older man named Einar (Thomas Ungewitter) and make money off of her. Yet once Inga meets Karl (Casten Lassen) - her aunt's younger lover - she runs from this rich world of decadence.

In November of 1969, the police busted into the Dakota Theater in Grand Forks, ND and arrested the manager and the projectionist, charging them with running an obscene film. They were found not guilty, which was a major step toward legally showing pornography.

That said - this is quite tame by today's standards. And it's filled with so much story and emotional content, it's hard to compare it to what pornography has become.

There's a gorgeous scene in the beginning of this as Inga, nude but for a diaphanous nightgown, takes a series of wind-up toys and lets them race across the floor in front of her. Inga continues to return to these toys as her sexuality is awakened and her innocence left behind.

The film is just as much about Greta, a gorgeous yet aging woman clinging to her youth by dating increasingly younger men which comes with it a price: these young men need money to stay around, not love or sex.

Sometimes, the feeling of sin is better than the sin itself.

It is Neither Good Nor Bad. It Is Respectful.

[res0irzi · 3/10 · 22 April 2002]

The film deserves our respect because it is one of pioneers in B-movie and softcores. Plot and acting are above average and sex is pretty lame in today's standard (you see nothing below waist and kissing is limited to mouth and neck). Of course, the movie was made 1967 in an era when sexuality was tabooed in films. Please don't get me wrong. I gave it credits for being a pioneer, but still, time has changed, we should be looking forward. Therefore, I wish the reissue of Inga can serve as a reminder to those who make B-movies and softcores that we've come a long way, so stop making garbages and make good stuffs to commemorate those who had fought for us years ago. Salute to Inga!

Carries you back to the late Sixties

[wvisser-leusden · 8/10 · 7 October 2010]

This film is good, provided that you place it its right time-frame.

At the end of the Sixties, anti-conceptive became widely available. So for the first time in history sex could be disconnected from childbirth. This caused a true wave of hedonism, reflected in films like 'Inga'. Made in Sweden, of course, because in those days Sweden was regarded as leading -- which probably had much to do with the Scandinavians' traditional relaxed attitude towards sex and nudity.

Actually, 'Inga' got down so well in the late 1960-s, that its title became a sort of trademark-name for all the soft-porn of its era.

Today, 'Inga's main quality is its ability to carry you back to the late 1960-s. Surely revoking memories for those who were around at the time.

Those who weren't are left with a well-shot film. In black and white. With a coherent, well-presented story that may be somewhat boring to today's standards.

Far better than you'd ever expect.

[GNHN · 22 October 1998]

Well acted softcore Swede smut, with some interesting characterizations, legitimately erotic scenes and some surprising glimpses in mid-60s clubland.

Yawns from the land of Cuckoo Clocks

[rufasff · 9 April 2002]

Shlockmeister Dave Freidman once took a early Bergman film (Monica) with a flash of nudity and marketed it as a skin flick. "Inga" sort of reverses the equation. Sometimes interesting low budget sex film maker Joe Sarno makes a Swedish sex film, trying to incorporate interesting characters fighting off feelings of isolation. It deals with the story of the sexy young Marie Liledahl(Inga to you) being pushed by her strapped Aunts into putting out for rich men, but really wanting to hang onto her childish innocence. She's beautiful, and there is a bit of interesting photography, but mostly this is long, dull, and pretentious. Look for Sarno's much more interesting "Sin In The Suburbs", and skip the loaded but empty DVD of Inga.