Audience Member
I watched "Anita" in preparation for the much-heralded St. Louis debut of von Trier's "Nymphomaniac: Volume 1"... And I'm still not sure what to make of this bizarre film. Is it a serious psychosexual drama? Then why does the director seem so eager to have his hot star disrobe on the flimsiest of pretexts? Wait a second, is this a cheesy sexploitation flick or a porno? Then why all of the lengthy, earnest dialogue? There are scenes in which Lindberg conveys sincere personal anguish. The film possesses none of the tongue-in-cheek playfulness that one associates with those genres. It's like Russ Meyer and Ingmar Bergman decided to co-direct a film.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/10/23
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Audience Member
Christina Lindberg is as mesmerizing as ever and there is a weird retro charm but... yeah... that's it.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
01/20/23
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bill t
Although this movie is a study about a nymphomaniac teenager who has sex with everyone she meets.. Oh, and she's swedish, so there's double trouble, this adult film for the hipster crowd does pack moral issues, you know, she doesn't really WANT to be a nympho, and the whole town basically dumps on her, so that this can have a little bit of cred. To a point, it succeeds. Christina Lindberg is very good, and Stellan Skarsgard (!!) is also great as her psycholiogist (though he looks awfully young to be one). Yes, lots of sex in this one, but it also makes ya think!
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
03/30/23
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Audience Member
Typical sexploitation in the name of pop psych, in the vein of the Schoolgirl Report series or really any public education smut back to pre-code and traveling exhibition. This is of its own time, with a degree of distinctly sleazy stage revues and well-meaning counter culture types. Lindberg does not really come across well, however, and Skarsgard seems lost.
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
01/26/23
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Audience Member
Ahh I love Christina Lindberg. She's stunningly beautiful and takes on some very brave roles, such as this one about a misunderstiood 17-year-old authentic nymphomaniac. I enjoyed the coverage of the subject, as it brought up the basics that I would hope for, such as the history of misuse of the word to describe any woman with a healthy interest in sex (i.e. Victorian Age), and how that differs from people with a legitimate compulsion. Anita falls into the latter category, and the story follows some of her many exploits and the attempts of her therapist/friend to try and help her break the habit. It is sexploitation, but I did not feel that the movie showed sympathy to the chracter's condition.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/20/23
Full Review
Audience Member
People debate today whether there really is such a thing as nymphomania, or if it was just a term pinned on women who tried to lead a naturally healthy sex life back in much more repressive, Victorian times when such a thing was not permissible. One thing's for sure though , if this particular movie is based on a real story as it claims to be, this girl definitely had a serious problem. The girl in this movie (played by Christina Lindberg) , will sleep with anybody, and I do mean anybody. This turns her into a social outcast (because of course, nobody likes a beautiful girl who wants to have sex all the time). She's like a junkie in her compulsion, begging for the key to a friend's apartment so she can have quickies with unattractive businessmen she picks up at the train station. And when one kindly elderly guy tries to console her after an unsatisfying sexual encounter, she drops to her knees to give him the b.j. of his life.
All this is treated in a very serious, at times almost depressing manner, and Lindberg gives a very earnest performance. Since I doubt too many people then or now watched this movie out of concern for the social problem of nymphomania (more likely they wanted to know where they could find a girl like this), this move and Lindberg's performance may seem pretty campy. I have to say though I'd much rather see a movie like this that sets out to be somewhat serious and falls into camp than a movie that aims at camp and falls flat on its face. And though Lindberg will never be mentioned in the same breath as Greta Garbo, her overly seriously performance here is infinitely better than most modern-day "cult actresses" and "scream queens" camping and mugging their way through movies that they (very erroneously) consider beneath their talents.
In any case, campy or not, this movie definitely succeeds as exploitation thanks to Lindberg doffing her duds every five minutes or so. If you've never seen Christina Lindberg, she's kind of like really sexy mutant or mythical beast--she has the face of an innocent teenage Swedish schoolgirl attached to the body of a voluptuous burlesque-era stripper (which is not at all to say that her appeal is limited to those who dig schoolgirls or burlesque strippers). Her most memorable scene here is where she and her goody-good twin sister are singing for their parents' friends and she turns the occasion into an impromptu full-monty striptease. And if you are a fan of Lindberg, or become one after this movie, also check her out in "Thriller--a Cruel Picture" (a favorite of mine), her first film "Maid in Sweden", the German "schulmadchen report" films in which she was a regular, and the unbelievably depraved film "Depraved". She's almost always worth the price of admission all by herself.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/12/23
Full Review
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