Today, the film is mainly known for its nude scenes, which caused much controversy at the time and, together with Ingmar Bergman's Summer with Monika (1953), spread the image of Swedish "free love" around the world.

The film tells the story about the university student Göran who spends a summer on his uncle's farm, where he meets the young Kerstin.

They experience an intense summer together, and Göran dreads the idea of returning to university in the autumn.

The film caused much international controversy, because of a nude swimming sequence and a love scene which included a close-up of Ulla Jacobsson's breasts, but also because of its very anti-clerical message by portraying a local priest as the main villain.

So, in spite of its awards, the film was banned in Spain and several other countries,[1] and was not widely released in the United States until 1955,[2] although it was showing in San Francisco as early as October 1953.