With an abundance of wit and compassion for adolescent pain, director Lukas Moodysson has crafted a wonderful portrait of youth in "Show Me Love". The Swedish film, which opens Outfest '99 on Thursday, will be released by Strand in October. The highly likable film could have a strong impact in specialty markets despite the lack of a well-known director or stars.
The story takes place in the backwater town of Amal, where there is virtually nothing for young people to do except go to school and parties and get high. (The film was originally titled "Fucking Amal", which is how many characters refer to this boring berg.)
Agnes (Rebecca Liljeberg), a lithe, dark-haired girl who moved to Amal two years earlier with her parents, is an outsider with no friends. But she has a secret crush on her blonde classmate Elin (Alexandra Dahlstrom), who is popular with all the girls and an object of desire for most of the boys.
On a dare, Elin plants a kiss on Agnes' lips to see if Agnes lives up to her reputation as a "lesbian." Imagine Elin's shock when she realizes how much she enjoyed the kiss. Instead of pursuing those feelings, Elin plunges into self-denial. She gives Agnes the cold shoulder and takes up with an older boy, Johan (Mathias Rust), whom she doesn't even like.
Meanwhile, her pal Jessica (Erica Carlson) remains in a humdrum relationship with longtime boyfriend Markus (Stefan Horberg). There is little passion in this affair, and Jessica is all too aware of his shortcomings.
Within these simple plot lines, Moodysson poignantly depicts the agony suffered when adolescents get overwhelmed by a bewildering range of emotions. Heartache comes from everywhere: at birthday parties no one attends; in well meaning but obtuse advice from parents; from rejection by the "in" crowd; in the obsessions with status and looks; and in the longing for there to be something more to life than simply growing up.
Moodysson keeps his camera close to his young actors' faces, where one can read uncertainty in their eyes even as they try to act cool. No one is very articulate at this age: They fumble for the right words and often look as if they wish a huge hole would open under their feet and swallow them up.
The nervous close shots isolate the characters' emotions from the specifics of the Swedish milieu. Fucking Amal could just as easily be fucking Akron. The tight cinematography also magnifies the heartless cruelties and sick jokes kids inflict on one another. As a consequence, the eventual triumph of Agnes feels especially satisfying.
"Show Me Love", which represents 29-year-old Moodysson's feature debut, has become one of the biggest film successes in Sweden in recent years. The film, a winner at the Berlin International Film Festival, also won four of Sweden's Guldbagge awards, including best film, director and screenplay. Liljeberg and Dahlstrom shared the prize for best actress. All were well deserved.
SHOW ME LOVE
Strand Releasing
Memfis Film
Producer: Lars Jansson
Co-producer: Peter Aalbaek
Writer-director: Lukas Moodysson
Director of photography: Ulf Brantas
Art directors: Lina Strand, Heidi Saikkonen
Editors: Michal Leszczylowski, Bernhard Winkler
Color/stereo
Cast:
Agnes: Rebecca Liljeberg
Elin: Alexandra Dahlstrom
Jessica: Erica Carlson
Johan Hult: Mathias Rust
Markus: Stefan Horberg
Father Olof: Ralph Carlsson
Mother Karin: Maria Hedborg
Running time -- 98 minutes
No MPAA rating...
The story takes place in the backwater town of Amal, where there is virtually nothing for young people to do except go to school and parties and get high. (The film was originally titled "Fucking Amal", which is how many characters refer to this boring berg.)
Agnes (Rebecca Liljeberg), a lithe, dark-haired girl who moved to Amal two years earlier with her parents, is an outsider with no friends. But she has a secret crush on her blonde classmate Elin (Alexandra Dahlstrom), who is popular with all the girls and an object of desire for most of the boys.
On a dare, Elin plants a kiss on Agnes' lips to see if Agnes lives up to her reputation as a "lesbian." Imagine Elin's shock when she realizes how much she enjoyed the kiss. Instead of pursuing those feelings, Elin plunges into self-denial. She gives Agnes the cold shoulder and takes up with an older boy, Johan (Mathias Rust), whom she doesn't even like.
Meanwhile, her pal Jessica (Erica Carlson) remains in a humdrum relationship with longtime boyfriend Markus (Stefan Horberg). There is little passion in this affair, and Jessica is all too aware of his shortcomings.
Within these simple plot lines, Moodysson poignantly depicts the agony suffered when adolescents get overwhelmed by a bewildering range of emotions. Heartache comes from everywhere: at birthday parties no one attends; in well meaning but obtuse advice from parents; from rejection by the "in" crowd; in the obsessions with status and looks; and in the longing for there to be something more to life than simply growing up.
Moodysson keeps his camera close to his young actors' faces, where one can read uncertainty in their eyes even as they try to act cool. No one is very articulate at this age: They fumble for the right words and often look as if they wish a huge hole would open under their feet and swallow them up.
The nervous close shots isolate the characters' emotions from the specifics of the Swedish milieu. Fucking Amal could just as easily be fucking Akron. The tight cinematography also magnifies the heartless cruelties and sick jokes kids inflict on one another. As a consequence, the eventual triumph of Agnes feels especially satisfying.
"Show Me Love", which represents 29-year-old Moodysson's feature debut, has become one of the biggest film successes in Sweden in recent years. The film, a winner at the Berlin International Film Festival, also won four of Sweden's Guldbagge awards, including best film, director and screenplay. Liljeberg and Dahlstrom shared the prize for best actress. All were well deserved.
SHOW ME LOVE
Strand Releasing
Memfis Film
Producer: Lars Jansson
Co-producer: Peter Aalbaek
Writer-director: Lukas Moodysson
Director of photography: Ulf Brantas
Art directors: Lina Strand, Heidi Saikkonen
Editors: Michal Leszczylowski, Bernhard Winkler
Color/stereo
Cast:
Agnes: Rebecca Liljeberg
Elin: Alexandra Dahlstrom
Jessica: Erica Carlson
Johan Hult: Mathias Rust
Markus: Stefan Horberg
Father Olof: Ralph Carlsson
Mother Karin: Maria Hedborg
Running time -- 98 minutes
No MPAA rating...
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