491 (film)

491
Theatrical release poster
Directed byVilgot Sjöman
Written byLars Görling (also novel)
Vilgot Sjöman
Produced byLars-Owe Carlberg
StarringLars Lind
CinematographyGunnar Fischer
Edited byLennart Wallén
Music byGeorg Riedel
Distributed bySvensk Filmindustri
Release date
  • 16 March 1964 (1964-03-16)
Running time
101 minutes
CountrySweden
LanguageSwedish

491 is a 1964 Swedish black-and-white drama film directed by Vilgot Sjöman, based on a novel by Lars Görling [sv]. The story is about a group of youth criminals who are chosen to participate in a social experiment in which they are assigned to live together in an apartment while being supervised by two forgiving social workers. The film's tagline is: "It is written that 490 times you can sin and be forgiven. This motion picture is about the 491st."

This controversial film, which featured a male homosexual rape scene, was first banned in Sweden, but was rereleased after reediting.[1] One of the excised scenes depicted a woman being raped by a dog.[2] The film was also banned in Norway until 1971. The British Board of Film Classification refused to certify the film in 1968, meaning it can not be distributed in the United Kingdom.[3]

  1. ^ Jones, Derek (December 2001). Censorship: A World Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 2254. ISBN 978-1-136-79864-1.
  2. ^ Larsson, Mariah; Bjorklund, Elisabet (28 June 2016). Swedish Cinema and the Sexual Revolution: Critical Essays. McFarland. p. 116. ISBN 9781476665443.
  3. ^ "491". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2015.