Heads Up, Ears Down

This blog accurately identifies depictions of violence and cruelty toward animals in films. The purpose is to provide viewers with a reliable guide so that such depictions do not come as unwelcome surprises. Films will be accurately notated, providing a time cue for each incident along with a concise description of the scene and perhaps relevant context surrounding the incident. In order to serve as a useful reference tool, films having no depictions of violence to animals will be included, with an indication that there are no such scenes. This is confirmation that the films have been watched with the stated purpose in mind.


Note that the word depictions figures prominently in the objective. It is a travesty that discussions about cruelty in film usually are derailed by the largely unrelated assertion that no animals really were hurt (true only in some films, dependent upon many factors), and that all this concern is just over a simulation. Not the point, whether true or false. We do not smugly dismiss depictions of five-year-olds being raped because those scenes are only simulations. No, we are appalled that such images are even staged, and we are appropriately horrified that the notion now has been planted into the minds of the weak and cruel.


Depictions of violence or harm to animals are assessed in keeping with our dominant culture, with physical abuse, harmful neglect, and similar mistreatment serving as a base line. This blog does not address extended issues of animal welfare, and as such does not identify scenes of people eating meat or mules pulling plows. The goal is to itemize images that might cause a disturbance in a compassionate household.


These notes provide a heads-up but do not necessarily discourage watching a film because of depicted cruelty. Consuming a piece of art does not make you a supporter of the ideas presented. Your ethical self is created by your public rhetoric and your private actions, not by your willingness to sit through a filmed act of violence.

Showing posts with label Swedish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Swedish. Show all posts

Concerning Violence

Concerning Violence (Om våld). Göran Hugo Olsson, 2014.

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Edition screened: Reported with reliability. Swedish with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 90 minutes.


Summary: The film begins with cows being shot, and was watched no further.


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Faithless

Faithless. Liv Ullmann, 2000.

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Edition screened: BFI Blu-ray, released 2022. Swedish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 142 minutes.


Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.




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Maid in Sweden

Maid in Sweden. Dan Wolman (as Flock Johnson), 1971.

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Edition screened: Kino Lorber Blu-ray, released 2022. English language. Runtime approximately 81 minutes.


Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals. 3.5/5❤


While the overall visual experience is enjoyable due to generous scenes of pre-ruined Stockholm, lovely women, and a curious Beatles poster, the date rape scene and the general behavior of both male characters should be unacceptable to anyone. The film’s mainstream status removes vintage pornography’s comforting filter of absurd play-acting.


Criticism of poor quality of the English overdub is off-base. These are ESL Swedes doing their best speaking English. Perhaps some ADR here and there as with almost any film, but there are no distracting sync issues.



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Border

Border (Gräns). Ali Abbasi, 2018.

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Edition screened: Universal Blu-ray, released 2019. Swedish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 110 minutes.


Summary: Several instances of the main character eating a few maggots, and once a worm. This eating is done in a calm, natural way, as a gentle animal would eat, not like an asinine collegiate stunt.


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The Indelicate Balance


The Indelicate Balance. Joseph W. Sarno, 1969.

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Edition screened: Included with Rretro-Seduction DVD The Seduction of Inga, released 2004. Swedish language. Runtime approximately 88 minutes.


Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals. 1/5❤



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The Seduction of Inga

The Seduction of Inga (Någon att älska). Joseph W. Sarno, 1969.

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Edition screened: Retro-Seduction DVD, released 2004. Swedish language with original English dub. Runtime approximately 81 minutes.


Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals. 1/5❤


The Retro-Seduction 2-DVD set also includes the “Grindhouse Cut” of The Seduction of Inga, which includes slightly longer versions of the almost-softcore scenes for a total runtime of 87 minutes. Also included on Disc 2 is another Sarno film also made in Sweden in 1969, The Indelicate Balance.



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Port of Call

Port of Call (Hamnstad). Ingmar Bergman, 1948.
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Edition screened: Included in Criterion Blu-ray set Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema, released 2018, and also in Criterion’s Eclipse 1: Early Bergman DVD set released 2007. Swedish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 97 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Port of Call and Thirst share disc#23 of 30 (part of ‘Centerpiece 3’) in the Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema set.

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The Rite (Bergman)

The Rite (The Ritual/Riten). Ingmar Bergman, 1969.
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Edition screened: Included in Criterion Blu-ray set Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema, released 2018. Swedish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 75 minutes.

Summary: No animals or references to animals in the film.

The Rite and Sawdust and Tinsel and share disc #18 of 30 in Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema (part of ‘Centerpiece 2’).

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Sawdust and Tinsel

Sawdust and Tinsel (Gycklarnas afton). Ingmar Bergman, 1953.
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Edition screened: Included in Artificial Eye Blu-ray box set Classic Bergman, released 2012; also included in Criterion Blu-ray set Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema, released 2018. Swedish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 92 minutes.

Summary: There are brief comments among the circus members that the bear should be shot. Later we see the owner approach a cage with a pistol and see him fire. There is no visual or audio depiction of a dying or dead bear.

Sawdust and Tinsel and The Rite share disc #18 of 30 in Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema (part of ‘Centerpiece 2’), along with a short 2003 introduction to Sawdust and Tinsel by Bergman with Marie Nyreröd.

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Scenes from a Marriage: Theatrical version

Scenes from a Marriage: Theatrical version (Scener ur ett äktenskap). Ingmar Bergman, 1974.
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Edition screened: Included in Criterion Blu-ray set Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema, released 2018; also released as Criterion DVD set #229. Swedish language with English subtitles. Approximately 169 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence toward animals.

The ‘Theatrical version’ (the shorter version) of Scenes from a Marriage is on disc #8 of 30 in Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema (part of ‘Centerpiece 1’), and is accompanied by a 1986 interview with Bergman (15 minutes), a 2003 interview with actors Erland Josephson and Liv Ullman (25 minutes), and a 2003 discussion by Peter Cowie comparing the two versions of the film (15 minutes). 

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Smiles of a Summer Night

Smiles of a Summer Night (Sommarnattens leende). Ingmar Bergman, 1955.
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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #101, included in Criterion Blu-ray set Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema, released 2018. Swedish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 109 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Smiles of a Summer Night is on disc #1 of 30 in Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema (part of ‘Opening Night’), and is accompanied by a 2003 introduction by Bergman with Marie Nyreröd, a trailer, and a very good conversation about the film between Peter Cowie and Jörn Donner (2003, 17 minutes). 

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Thicker Than Water

Thicker Than Water (Tjockare än vatten). Various directors, 2014.
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Edition screened: Arrow 4-DVD box set, released 2016. Swedish language with English subtitles. Total runtime of all 10 episodes, approximately 580 minutes.

Summary: The last episode includes a typical depiction of fish cleaning, an example of relatively normal domestic meat and fish prep that is not alarming to this project.


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Thirst (Bergman)

Thirst (Törst). Ingmar Bergman, 1949.
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Edition screened: Included in Criterion Blu-ray set Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema, released 2018, and also in Criterion’s Eclipse 1: Early Bergman DVD set released 2007. Swedish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 84 minutes.

Summary: Unprovoked abuse to a snake.

Details: A seemingly harmless snake is picked up by the tail at 8:01 and dropped on a large active ant hill at 8:11. The snake is engulfed by ants and reacts in pain to the many bites it receives before managing to crawl off at 8:18. 

Thirst and Port of Call share disc# 23 of 30 (part of ‘Centerpiece 3’) in the Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema set.


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Thriller: A Cruel Picture

Thriller: A Cruel Picture (Thriller - en grym film). Bo Arne Vibenius, 1974.

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Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome 4K UHD, released 2022. Original Swedish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 108 minutes.


Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.  3/5❤


The Vinegar Syndrome 3-disc set includes many special features and They Call Her One Eye, the 90-minute English-dubbed and censored version of Thriller, also free of animal violence.


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To Joy

To Joy (Till glädje). Ingmar Bergman, 1949.
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Edition screened: Included in Criterion Blu-ray set Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema, released 2018; also included in Criterion box set Eclipse 1: Early Bergman, released 2007. Swedish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 99 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

To Joy is on disc #4 of 30 in Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema (part of ‘Opening Night’).

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Tystnad! Tagning! Trollflöjten!

Tystnad! Tagning! Trollflöjten! Måns Reuterswärd, 1975.
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Edition screened: Included in Criterion Blu-ray set Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema, released 2018. Swedish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 63 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

This documentary about the making of Bergman’s The Magic Flute is on disc #20 in the Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema set, and was produced for Swedish television.

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Waiting Women

Waiting Women (Kvinnors väntan). Ingmar Bergman, 1952.
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Edition screened: Included in Criterion Blu-ray set Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema, released 2018. Swedish language with English subtitles. Approximately 108 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence toward animals.

Waiting Women and Brink of Life share disc #25 of 30 in Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema (parts of ‘Centerpiece 3’). 

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After the Rehearsal

After the Rehearsal (Efter repetitionen). Ingmar Bergman, 1984.
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Edition screened: Included in Criterion Blu-ray set Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema, released 2018. Swedish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 73 minutes.

Summary: No animals in the film.

After the Rehearsal shares disc #20 of 30 in Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema (part of ‘Centerpiece 2’) with The Magic Flute.

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All These Women

All These Women (För att inte tala om alla dessa kvinnor). Ingmar Bergman, 1964.
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Edition screened: Included in Criterion Blu-ray set Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema, released 2018. Swedish language with English subtitles. Approximately 80 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence toward animals.

It is as though an indignant Ingmar Bergman said, “How come Fellini can make all these tawdry gross movies but I can’t!?”  Apparently he can.

The Devil’s Eye and All These Women share disc #17 of 30 in Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema (parts of ‘Centerpiece 2’). 

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Autumn Sonata

Autumn Sonata (Höstsonaten). Ingmar Bergman, 1978.
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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #60, included in Criterion Blu-ray set Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema, released 2018. Swedish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 93 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Autumn Sonata is on disc #26 of 30 in Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema (part of ‘Centerpiece 3’), and is accompanied by Bergman’s The Making of “Autumn Sonata (1978), a 2003 introduction by Bergman with Marie Nyreröd, and several interview segments with cast, crew, and scholars.

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