Sweden: Heaven and Hell

Sweden: Heaven and Hell (original Italian title *Svezia, inferno e paradiso*) is a 1968 Italian mondo film that was directed, written, and edited by Luigi Scattini. The cast includes actress Marie Liljedahl, with narration provided by Enrico Maria Salerno in the original Italian, Edmund Purdom for the English dub, and Jean Topart for the French version.

The film is structured around nine segments that explore various aspects of Swedish sexuality, including lesbian nightclubs, pornography, the swinging lifestyle of married couples, and sex education for teenagers. It also covers topics such as drug addiction, alcoholism, and suicide rates in Sweden.

The film’s most notable legacy is that it introduced Piero Umiliani’s song "Mah Nà Mah Nà," which later gained widespread fame through The Muppets.

The "Heaven" portion of the film showcases Sweden’s progressive 1960s culture, highlighting state-mandated sex education for teenagers, widespread access to contraceptives, and the expansion of day-care for working mothers. It also examines urban subcultures like lesbian nightclubs and married couples engaging in swinging, presenting these as examples of personal freedom. A famous "heavenly" scene features a group of women in a sauna, accompanied by the debut of "Mah Nà Mah Nà."

The "Hell" segments shift to a critical view, blaming these freedoms for social problems. They focus on high rates of alcoholism, drug addiction, and Sweden’s reputation as a "suicide capital." Darker, often staged, scenarios include rebellious teenage biker gangs who commit violence and a gang rape of a young girl, a reformatory school for juvenile delinquents, and a massive nuclear bunker built for survival after an inevitable nuclear war. The English narrator, voiced by Edmund Purdom, delivers a condescending critique, suggesting that Swedes’ detachment and boredom with their liberal lives lead to despair and self-destruction.