Editing Mai Zetterling (section)

==Career==
Zetterling appeared in film and television productions spanning six decades from the 1940s to the 1990s. Her breakthrough as an actress came in the 1944 film ''[[Torment (1944 film)|Torment]]'' written for her<ref name="latimes-1994-03-19-mn-35872">{{cite news |title=Mai Zetterling, 68; Swedish Film Actress Turned Director |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-03-19-mn-35872-story.html |access-date=8 August 2022 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=19 March 1994}}</ref> by [[Ingmar Bergman]], in which she played a controversial role as a tormented shopgirl. Shortly afterwards, she moved to England and gained instant success there with her title role in [[Basil Dearden]]'s ''[[Frieda (film)|Frieda]]'' (1947), playing opposite [[David Farrar (actor)|David Farrar]].<ref name=":2" />

After a brief return to Sweden, in which she worked with Bergman again in his film ''[[Music in Darkness]]'' (1948), she returned to Britain and starred in a number of UK films. Some of her notable films as an actress include ''[[Quartet (1948 film)|Quartet]]'' (1948), a film based on some of [[W. Somerset Maugham]]'s short stories, ''[[The Romantic Age]]'' (1949) directed by [[Edmond T. Gréville]], ''[[Only Two Can Play]]'' (1962) co-starring [[Peter Sellers]] and directed by [[Sidney Gilliat]], and ''[[The Witches (1990 film)|The Witches]]'' (1990), an adaptation of [[Roald Dahl]]'s book directed by [[Nicolas Roeg]]. Having gained a reputation as a [[sex symbol]] in dramas and thrillers, she was equally effective in comedies, and was active in British television in the 1950s and 1960s.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Where to begin with Mai Zetterling |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/where-begin-with-mai-zetterling |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=BFI |language=en}}</ref>

In 1960, she appeared in ''[[Danger Man]]'' as Nadia in the episode "The Sisters".<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Danger Man Website |url=http://danger-man.co.uk/episodeDetails.asp?episodeID=12&seriesNo=1 |access-date=27 May 2023 |website=danger-man.co.uk}}</ref>

She began directing and publishing novels and non-fiction in the early 1960s, her films starting with political documentaries and a short film titled ''The War Game'' (1963), which was nominated for a [[BAFTA]] award, and won a Silver Lion at Venice, both for the Best Short Film. Her directorial feature film debut ''[[Älskande par]]'' (1964, "Loving Couples"), based on the novels of [[Agnes von Krusenstjerna]], caused a scandal at the [[1965 Cannes Film Festival]] for its sexual explicitness and nudity.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mai Zetterling profile|url=https://www.svenskfilmdatabas.se/en/item/?type=person&itemid=173874 |access-date=17 November 2023}}</ref> [[Kenneth Tynan]] of ''The Observer'' later called it "one of the most ambitious debuts since ''[[Citizen Kane]]''". It was not the only film she made that caused controversy for its frank sexuality.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-16 |title=Sexuality in '60s Cinema: 'Three Films by Mai Zetterling' |url=https://www.popmatters.com/mai-zetterling-loving-night-girls |access-date=2024-03-26 |website=www.popmatters.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

When critics reviewing her debut feature stated that "Mai Zetterling directs like a man",<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/212401%7C104025/Mai-Zetterling|title=Mai Zetterling|website=Turner Classic Movies|access-date=20 January 2022}}</ref> she began to explore feminist themes more explicitly in her work. ''[[The Girls (1968 film)|The Girls]]'', which had an all-star Swedish cast that included [[Bibi Andersson]] and [[Harriet Andersson]], discussed women's liberation (or lack thereof) in a society controlled by men, as the protagonists compare their lives to characters in the play ''[[Lysistrata]]'', and find that things have not progressed very much for women since ancient times. In 1966, she appeared as a storyteller on the BBC children's programme ''[[Jackanory]]'', and in [[List of Jackanory episodes|five episodes]] narrated [[Tove Jansson]]'s ''Finn Family Moomintroll''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1966-02-28 |title=BBC Programme Index |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/6410c46d15de494095e887d3cc6c7501 |access-date=2024-03-26 |website=genome.ch.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>