Cinenaut

Biography

Mai Elisabeth Zetterling ( May 24, 1925 – March 17, 1994) was a Swedish actress and film director.

She began directing in the early 1960s, starting with political documentaries and a short film called The War Game (1962), which was nominated for a BAFTA award, and won a Silver Lion at Venice. Her first feature film Älskande par (1964, "Loving Couples"), based on the novels of Agnes von Krusenstjerna, was banned at the Cannes Film Festival for its sexual explicitness and nudity. Kenneth Tynan of The Observer later called it "one of the most ambitious debuts since Citizen Kane." It was not the only film she made that would stir up controversy for its frank sexuality (early pioneer on voyeurism).

When critics reviewing her debut feature said that "Mai Zetterling directs like a man," she began to explore feminist themes more explicitly in her work. The Girls, which had an all-star Swedish cast including Bibi Andersson and Harriet Andersson, discussed women's liberation (or lack thereof) in a society controlled by men, as the protagonists compare their lives to characters in the play Lysistrata, and find that things have not progressed very much for women since ancient times.

Acting (50 movies)

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Nu börjar livet

1948

6.9

The Witches

1990

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Ett dockhem

1956

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Minns ni?

1993

6.9

Hidden Agenda

1990

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Sunshine Follows Rain

1946

6.1

Music in Darkness

1948

7.1

Torment

1944

5.8

Only Two Can Play

1962

5.1

Frieda

1947

6.6

Knock on Wood

1954

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Faces in the Dark

1960

6.2

Quartet

1948

7.4

Abandon Ship

1957

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The Master Builder

1958

6.2

The Man Who Finally Died

1963

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Offbeat

1961

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A Prize of Gold

1955

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Desperate Moment

1953

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Blackmailed

1951

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Sellers' Best

1992

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Prejudice and Pride: Swedish Film Queer

2022

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Piccadilly Third Stop

1960

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Jag dräpte

1943

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The Romantic Age

1949

7.0

Visions of Eight

1973

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The Main Attraction

1962

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The Lost People

1949

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Hell Is Sold Out

1951

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The Ringer

1952

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Portrait from Life

1948

6.8

Jet Storm

1959

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Dance Little Lady

1954

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Prince Gustaf

1944

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Tall Headlines

1952

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Iris and the Lieutenant

1946

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The Making of 'Hidden Agenda'

1990

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Maybe I Really Am a Sorceress

1989

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Playing on the Rainbow

1958

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Lianbron

1965

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The Truth About Women

1957

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We Have Many Names

1976

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The Bay of St. Michel

1963

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Morfars resa

1993

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Lasse-Maja

1941

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My Heart Is Red

1977

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Regissören: en film om Mai Zetterling

2015

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Meeting with Mai

1996

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Calling the Shots

1988

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Mai Zetterling's Stockholm

1978

Directing (17 movies)

5.4

Night Games

1966

5.0

Scrubbers

1982

5.8

Loving Couples

1964

6.3

Doctor Glas

1968

5.2

Amorosa

1986

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The War Game

1963

7.0

Visions of Eight

1973

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We Have Many Names

1976

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Lords of Little Egypt: Mai Zetterling Among the Gypsies

1961

6.0

The Girls

1968

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Of Seals and Men

1981

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Vincent the Dutchman

1972

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Sunday Pursuit

1990

4.5

Love

1982

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The Moon Is a Green Cheese

1977

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Concrete Grandma

1986

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Mai Zetterling's Stockholm

1978

Title	Year	Job
The War Game	1963	Screenplay
The War Game	1963	Producer
Loving Couples	1964	Writer
Night Games	1966	Writer
Doctor Glas	1968	Screenplay
The Girls	1968	Writer
The Moon Is a Green Cheese	1977	Writer
Of Seals and Men	1981	Writer
Love	1982	Writer
Scrubbers	1982	Writer
Amorosa	1986	Writer