Documentary Cult Classic

A sensationalized, uncensored look at Sweden's swinging sixties through nine revealing vignettes.

SWEDEN: HEAVEN AND HELL

Sweden... where the facts of life are stranger than fiction!

1968 · 1h 30m · X · Documentary · IMDB TMDB

A heavily sensationalized portrayal of life in Sweden, with particular focus on the country's liberal attitudes towards sexuality and drug use in nine scenes

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Quick Answer

What is Sweden: Heaven and Hell about?

Sweden: Heaven and Hell is a 1968 Italian documentary film directed by Luigi Scattini that sensationally explores Sweden's liberal attitudes towards sexuality and drug use through nine themed sketches.

Programmer's Pick

Luigi Scattini’s documentary doesn’t so much observe Sweden as ogle it, stitching together salacious sketches that blur the line between exposé and exploitation. If you’re here for social insight, adjust your expectations—but if your interest runs to meter-maids moonlighting as models and love cruises for teens, this is pure Euro-sixties camp.

— SassyFlix Programmer

Overview

Sweden: Heaven and Hell is a documentary comprised of nine provocative sketches, each introduced and linked by a voiceover narrator. The film promises an uncensored tour of Swedish society, fixating on the country’s reputedly permissive attitudes toward sex, relationships, and substances. Audiences are taken from a raucous bachelorette party to a government-run erotica archive, from moonlighting meter-maids to the so-called 'Polar Bare Club' populated by snow-loving beauties. Other segments include wife-swapping escapades, hippie communes, and even a glimpse of an underground city designed for survival. With its sensational approach, the film paints Sweden as both a paradise and a cautionary tale, always with an eye for the titillating and the taboo.

Details & Specs

Director: Luigi Scattini
Writer: Luigi Scattini
Release: 1968
Runtime: 1h 30m
Country: Italy
Language: English, Italian, Swedish
Genres: Documentary
Also Known As: Suède: enfer et paradis, Suécia: inferno e paraíso

Why This Matters

This Italian mondo film is notable for introducing Piero Umiliani's 'Mah Nà Mah Nà,' which later gained international fame through The Muppets, and for its segmented exploration of sexuality and social issues in Sweden during the late 1960s.

— SassyFlix Curator

Cast & Crew

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Director: Luigi Scattini Writer: Luigi Scattini

Enrico Maria Salerno Narrator (voice)

Edmund Purdom Narrator (English version)

Jean Topart Narrator (French version)

Marie Liljedahl Teddyboys' victim

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