The White Game
Encyclopedia
The White Game is a 1968 Swedish documentary film
about the protests
against the 1968 Davis Cup
tennis match between Sweden and Rhodesia, in Båstad
, Sweden.
.
The politically aware students sees the protest as an expression of a will to changed society. The Minister of Education Olof Palme
, expresses the opinion that some talented tennis players seams to be as bad at politics, as he is at tennis. The Minister for Justice, Herman Kling, refuses to comment on the actions of the Swedish Tennis Association, while the Minister of the Interior Rune Johansson, says that the Association is aware of the governments position, although no official actions have been taken to prevent the match.
Between the interviews, footage of the oppression of black people in Africa is interpolated. A white Rhodesian man says that the blacks should be happy that whites rules the country and keeps things in order, he then calls on his black chef who agrees with him. Black university students in Sweden, expresses their disappointment over the Swedish governments lack of action. The captain of the Rhodesian team, Adrian Bay is interviewed, he avoids commenting on politics.
's white government of the country's black population. The demonstrators, who demanded that the match should be stopped, represented among others the Swedish Social Democratic Youth League
, the Centre Party Youth and Liberal Youth of Sweden, as well as representatives of the Church of Sweden
, students and political organisation such as Clarté
and the Swedish arm of the National Front for the Liberation of Southern Vietnam. After a clash between the demonstrators and police, the match was cancelled. It was later played at a private tennis club in France.
agree to finance the documentary. Nine hours of footage was captured, using five 16 mm film
cameras.
Disagreement over the post-production of the extensive material, led to conflicts that were debate and commented on in media. The Minister of Justice Herman Kling, demanded to see the material, claiming that he had been promised the right to do so by Bo Widerberg. However, the filmmakers refused, referring to the demonstrators legal rights.
Further conflicts ensued, between the filmmakers and the Film Institute over producer rights, the evaluation of the collective work effort, and the lengthy post-production. In July the filmmakers formally formed the film collective and production company Grupp 13. They agreed to finance 40 per cent of the film and AB Svensk Filmindustri
steps in to finance 30 per cent.
"The White Game arrives post festum in the Båstad-debate, but that is about the only critical thing that can be said about it.” He commented favourably on the depth of analysis, smooth editing, and the mixture of pathos and logos in the polemic.
In Expressen
, Lasse Bergström, called it "one of the most important political films ever made in Sweden". He further wrote "The White Game expresses in images what Olof Palme have been saying in words: 'politics is will'." And it demonstrates clearly that the protests was a victory for the young generation [...] and a defeat for the sports-movement, which, regrettably, no longer shares their ideals. ” Bergström meant that most importantly, The White Game showed a young, politically aware, generation, which saw Sweden as a force of good in the world and — if worst came to worst — were prepared to fight for their belief. Lennart Jönsson, wrote in Dagens Nyheter
that The White Game gave the first complete view of the protests. Through the film, one received a clear view of the difference between the demonstrators and those that were for the game. "Grupp 13's film shows clearly, that the demonstrators are relatively knowledgeable people, aware of social and political problems, and also aware that these problems cannot be solved — entirely — by parliamentary means. Against them stands a group — with comparatively weak arguments, unclear ideas of law and order, and a weak interest for important international issues — backed by a strong police power. This is indeed a serious conflict of interests."
Film critic Hanserik Hjertén, complained in Svenska Dagbladet
that the filmmakers showed some bias, poising a few overly rhetorical question. However, Hjertén's overall impression of the film was positive, and he wrote that "a piece of modern Swedish history of significant value is brought into the limelight". After underlining the film's dramatic structure and the conflicts of not only moral importance that it illuminated, Hjertén wrote "The film shows a interesting polarity in Sweden: between intellectuals and non-intellectuals, and between sense of duty and private opinion. It is overall a impressive work, and a important contribution to future debate."
Together with an other documentary about Båstad, called The Truth About Båstad (Swedish: Sannigen om Båstad) by Lars Westman, The White Game was awarded the 1968 Chaplin Magazine Award. In 1969 it was awarded the Guldbagge Awards for Best Swedish Film. The award money, approximately 350,000 SEK
, more than covered the production costs of the film, which was a box office failure.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
about the protests
Båstad riots
The Båstad riots , is the name given to the riots, that took place during a Davis Cup tennis match between Sweden and Rhodesia on May 3, 1968 in Båstad, Sweden....
against the 1968 Davis Cup
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
tennis match between Sweden and Rhodesia, in Båstad
Båstad
Båstad is a locality and the seat of Båstad Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 4,793 inhabitants in 2005.-Geography:The town of Båstad is located in a sheltered bay with the Hallandian ridge stretching behind it...
, Sweden.
Plot
In a series of interviews, demonstrators and members of the Swedish Government, gives their views on sport, politics and civil disobedienceCivil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...
.
The politically aware students sees the protest as an expression of a will to changed society. The Minister of Education Olof Palme
Olof Palme
Sven Olof Joachim Palme was a Swedish politician. A long-time protegé of Prime Minister Tage Erlander, Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 to his assassination, and was a two-term Prime Minister of Sweden, heading a Privy Council Government from 1969 to 1976 and a cabinet...
, expresses the opinion that some talented tennis players seams to be as bad at politics, as he is at tennis. The Minister for Justice, Herman Kling, refuses to comment on the actions of the Swedish Tennis Association, while the Minister of the Interior Rune Johansson, says that the Association is aware of the governments position, although no official actions have been taken to prevent the match.
Between the interviews, footage of the oppression of black people in Africa is interpolated. A white Rhodesian man says that the blacks should be happy that whites rules the country and keeps things in order, he then calls on his black chef who agrees with him. Black university students in Sweden, expresses their disappointment over the Swedish governments lack of action. The captain of the Rhodesian team, Adrian Bay is interviewed, he avoids commenting on politics.
Background
The documentary was filmed during the demonstration against the Davis Cup match between Sweden and Rhodesia. The match were to take place in Båstad, May 3-5 1968. Rhodesia was at this time boycotted by several nations, on the recommendation of the United Nations, because of the oppression by Ian SmithIan Smith
Ian Douglas Smith GCLM ID was a politician active in the government of Southern Rhodesia, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe Rhodesia and Zimbabwe from 1948 to 1987, most notably serving as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 13 April 1964 to 1 June 1979...
's white government of the country's black population. The demonstrators, who demanded that the match should be stopped, represented among others the Swedish Social Democratic Youth League
Swedish Social Democratic Youth League
The Swedish Social Democratic Youth League is a branch of the Swedish social democratic party Socialdemokraterna and the Swedish Trade Union Confederation...
, the Centre Party Youth and Liberal Youth of Sweden, as well as representatives of the Church of Sweden
Church of Sweden
The Church of Sweden is the largest Christian church in Sweden. The church professes the Lutheran faith and is a member of the Porvoo Communion. With 6,589,769 baptized members, it is the largest Lutheran church in the world, although combined, there are more Lutherans in the member churches of...
, students and political organisation such as Clarté
Clarté
Clarté is a non-partisan socialist students' organisation in Sweden. It publishes a periodical with the same name. Clarté was established in 1921, and was in its first years notable for its resolute opposition to Fascism...
and the Swedish arm of the National Front for the Liberation of Southern Vietnam. After a clash between the demonstrators and police, the match was cancelled. It was later played at a private tennis club in France.
Production
A couple of days before the demonstration, the Swedish Film InstituteSwedish Film Institute
The Swedish Film Institute was founded in 1963 to support and develop the Swedish film industry. The institute is housed in the Filmhuset building located in Gärdet, Östermalm in Stockholm...
agree to finance the documentary. Nine hours of footage was captured, using five 16 mm film
16 mm film
16 mm film refers to a popular, economical gauge of film used for motion pictures and non-theatrical film making. 16 mm refers to the width of the film...
cameras.
Disagreement over the post-production of the extensive material, led to conflicts that were debate and commented on in media. The Minister of Justice Herman Kling, demanded to see the material, claiming that he had been promised the right to do so by Bo Widerberg. However, the filmmakers refused, referring to the demonstrators legal rights.
Further conflicts ensued, between the filmmakers and the Film Institute over producer rights, the evaluation of the collective work effort, and the lengthy post-production. In July the filmmakers formally formed the film collective and production company Grupp 13. They agreed to finance 40 per cent of the film and AB Svensk Filmindustri
AB Svensk Filmindustri
AB Svensk Filmindustri or Svensk Filmindustri is a Swedish film production company, distributor and movie theatre chain, currently owned by the Bonnier Group. It was established on December 27, 1919....
steps in to finance 30 per cent.
Critical reception
When Grupp 13’s documentary premiered in Stockholm, four months after the protest and riots, it was met by the critics with almost universal acclaim. Under the headline "The Båstad Film – A Superb Reportage", Jurgen Schildt wrote in AftonbladetAftonbladet
Aftonbladet is a Swedish tabloid founded by Lars Johan Hierta in 1830 during the modernization of Sweden. It is one of the larger daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. Aftonbladet is owned by the Swedish Trade Union Confederation and Norwegian media group Schibsted, and its editorial page...
"The White Game arrives post festum in the Båstad-debate, but that is about the only critical thing that can be said about it.” He commented favourably on the depth of analysis, smooth editing, and the mixture of pathos and logos in the polemic.
In Expressen
Expressen
Expressen is one of two nationwide evening tabloid newspapers in Sweden, the other being Aftonbladet. Expressen was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and slogans "it stings" or "Expressen to your rescue", always on the reader's side....
, Lasse Bergström, called it "one of the most important political films ever made in Sweden". He further wrote "The White Game expresses in images what Olof Palme have been saying in words: 'politics is will'." And it demonstrates clearly that the protests was a victory for the young generation [...] and a defeat for the sports-movement, which, regrettably, no longer shares their ideals. ” Bergström meant that most importantly, The White Game showed a young, politically aware, generation, which saw Sweden as a force of good in the world and — if worst came to worst — were prepared to fight for their belief. Lennart Jönsson, wrote in Dagens Nyheter
Dagens Nyheter
is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It has the largest circulation of Swedish morning newspapers, followed by Göteborgs-Posten and Svenska Dagbladet, and is the only morning newspaper that is distributed to subscribers across the whole country. In 2009 DN had a circulation of 316,000, reaching 881...
that The White Game gave the first complete view of the protests. Through the film, one received a clear view of the difference between the demonstrators and those that were for the game. "Grupp 13's film shows clearly, that the demonstrators are relatively knowledgeable people, aware of social and political problems, and also aware that these problems cannot be solved — entirely — by parliamentary means. Against them stands a group — with comparatively weak arguments, unclear ideas of law and order, and a weak interest for important international issues — backed by a strong police power. This is indeed a serious conflict of interests."
Film critic Hanserik Hjertén, complained in Svenska Dagbladet
Svenska Dagbladet
Svenska Dagbladet is a daily newspaper in Sweden. The first issue appeared on 18 December 1884. Svenska Dagbladet is published in Stockholm and provides coverage of national and international news as well as local coverage of the Greater Stockholm region...
that the filmmakers showed some bias, poising a few overly rhetorical question. However, Hjertén's overall impression of the film was positive, and he wrote that "a piece of modern Swedish history of significant value is brought into the limelight". After underlining the film's dramatic structure and the conflicts of not only moral importance that it illuminated, Hjertén wrote "The film shows a interesting polarity in Sweden: between intellectuals and non-intellectuals, and between sense of duty and private opinion. It is overall a impressive work, and a important contribution to future debate."
Together with an other documentary about Båstad, called The Truth About Båstad (Swedish: Sannigen om Båstad) by Lars Westman, The White Game was awarded the 1968 Chaplin Magazine Award. In 1969 it was awarded the Guldbagge Awards for Best Swedish Film. The award money, approximately 350,000 SEK
Swedish krona
The krona has been the currency of Sweden since 1873. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it, but especially in the past, it sometimes preceded the value...
, more than covered the production costs of the film, which was a box office failure.