Ung Flukt / The Wayward Girl / Die jungen Sünder

The daughter of a single working mother, 17-year-old Gerd has fallen into delinquency. After she spends a brief stint in police custody, Gerd’s boyfriend, a student, disobeys his parents and takes her away to the country to protect her from bad influences. The young couple survive on fresh air and love in a cabin in the woods until a drifter turns up who is quite to Gerd’s liking … Unlike American teen films about juvenile delinquents, Edith Carlmar’s feature is sympathetic to the plight of an adolescent who is as vivacious as she is fragile. Adding to the usual ingredients of the youthploitation genre – cola, jeans, and jazz, is the pin-up look of a 20-year-old Liv Ullmann in her first leading role. Not everyone found that a good thing. “Her face is lively and expressive, and she has sex-appeal. It is quite superfluous for Edith Carlmar to put so much emphasis on her breasts and thighs. Liv Ullmann is no Brigitte Bardot type. She has far more subtle and significant means at her disposal”, wrote Leif Borthen in the Oslo daily Verdens Gang.