Sytten

Infobox Film
name = Sytten


image_size = 200px
caption = Cover of the Danish DVD
director = Annelise Meineche
producer =
writer = Bob Ramsing
Carl Erik Soya (novel)
narrator =
starring = Ole Søltoft,
Ghita Nørby
music = Ole Høyer
cinematography = Ole Lytken
editing = Edith Schlüssel
distributor = Palladium Film
released = Septembe 6, 1965
runtime = 87 min.
country = Denmark
language = Danish
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:138642
imdb_id = 0059775

"Sytten" (English title: "Erik Soya's 17") is a 1965 Danish coming-of-age sex comedy directed by Annelise Meineche and starring Ole Søltoft and Ghita Nørby. Søltoft plays a 17-year-old high school student who discovers the youthful excesses of sexual desire during his summer vacation in 1913. Based upon the semi-autobiographical 1953 novel by Carl Erik Soya, Sytten was a financial success for the Palladium Film company and ushered in a wave of erotic films known in Denmark as "Sengekanten" (bedside) comedies. [Nissen, Dan, "100 Års Dansk Film", Rosinante, (2001) 445 pg, p232]

Plot

In the summer of 1913, 17-year-old Jacob (Ole Soltoft), a Danish high school student, lives in the frustrating limbo between boyhood and manhood. He worries about his excessive focus on masturbation and, although he is aware of the sexual overtures by the housemaid Sophie (Lise Rosendahl), Jacob doesn't know how to respond to her. Jacob is invited to spend his vacation at the summer house of his wealthy uncle (Ole Monty). At the summer house in an idyllic coastal town, Jacob meets his uncle, aunt (Bodil Steen), free-spirited housemaid Hansigne (Susanne Heinrich), virginal housekeeper Rosegod (Lily Broberg), and his dream-girl cousin Vibeke (Ghita Nørby). He is also pursued by his Uncle's employee (Ingolf David), who tries to seduce Jacob. While the Uncle is off on a fishing trip and the Aunt spends the night in town with her lover, Jacob has his first sexual experience with Vibeke -- an awkward encounter. Afterwards, when Vibeke leaves for school, Jacob spends his nights with Hansigne -- a joyful, uncomplicated and liberated woman. She guides him through his awkwardness and teaches him erotic techniques. One night, Hansigne's boyfriend Knud (Hugo Herrestrup) catches them together and attacks and threatens Jacob. Jacob discovers he finally feels like a man. In great spirits, he returns home after vacation and prepares to accept the advances of Sophie.

Cast

Reaction

Although "Sytten" was the first mainstream film in Denmark dealing with explicit nudity and sex, there was little public controversy. The film was an enormous box office success, achieving a record profit of 3 million danish kroner for the Palladium film studio. Palladium followed it the next year with a more serious work "Soya's Tagsten", also based upon the work of Soya, however that was a financial failure. After a few more attempts at more serous erotic films, Palladium finally discovered the correct formula was the sex comedy with Ole Søltoft in the lead in the film "Mazurka på sengekanten" ("Mazurka on the edge of the bed"). The film was the final production by Palladium, but it was another box-office hit and continued the wave of "Sengekanten" erotic comedies originally begun by the film "Sytten". [Harv|Nissen|2001|p=230-232]

References

External Links

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059775/ "Sytten"] at IMDb
* [http://www.danskefilm.dk/film/420.html "Sytten"] at Den Danske Fim Database (in Danish}
* [http://dnfx.dfi.dk/pls/dnf/pwt.page_setup?p_pagename=dnffuldvis&p_parmlist=filmid=15798 "Sytten"] at Det Danske Filminstitut (in Danish}