Instead of watching the Oscars last night, which we decided not to do because every year we think, "Oh, it'll be so bad it'll be fun!" and every year finds us groaning bloatedly, "I can't believe I watched the whole thing...I think I'm going to be sick," we went to see Show Me Love at the Music Box. Show Me Love is a Swedish film about teens in love, and was apparently the second most popular film in Sweden the year it came out (right behind Titanic). That, of course, was not why we went to see it; we went to see it because the teens in love are both girls. Liza said, going in, "If she ends up with a guy, I'm demanding my money back." Well, there were no angry refund demands; it was just as sweet and charming and as good a lesbian date movie as we thought it was going to be. Artistically/philosophically/aesthetically it's not exactly a miracle; but if you think about how different this movie would be if it were made in America, you realize these producers deserve some kind of medal.
In the tradition of teen pictures, it begins on the heroine's birthday. Two years after moving to the small town of Amal, Agnes still has no friends at her high school, and approaches the party her mother has insisted on throwing her with serious trepidation. Meanwhile, she struggles with a violent crush on Elin, a blonde bombshell who runs with the fast crowd. Elin, meanwhile, is bored with the life of a bad girl, frustrated that life in Amal can't offer her much in the way of acting out. (There is a hilarious early scene where Elin shrieks in frustration when her older sister tells her that one of their teen magazines has put raves on the "out" list before Elin has had the opportunity to go to one.) As Agnes had forseen, nobody comes to her party (except for another loser on whom Agnes turns viciously in the first demonstration of her Dark Side)--except for Elin and her older sister Jessica, who are bascially just looking for a place to get drunk. When Jessica tells Elin that rumor has it that Agnes is a lesbian, Elin gets Jessica to dare her to make out with Agnes. While Jessica watches, Elin flirts with her, mashes her, and then runs away laughing. Agnes retires humiliated; Elin, on the way to another party, begins to have pangs of remorse. After watching the popular girls make fun of Agnes and call her up to taunt her over the phone, Elin runs back to Agnes's house to apologize, and thus begins the rocky road toward first love.
This film is smart about teenagers the way a lot of American movies aren't; the kids are believable in terms of age and appearance, and the dialogue perfectly captures the spirit of high school--both the mean spirit that drives teenagers in the aggregate to form gangs, torment the weak, and turn on each other, and the painfully sincere desires for individuality, happiness and meaning that teenagers struggle with privately. It evokes with painful clarity what it is like to be at the bottom of the social food chain, and conveys Agnes's despair and anger sharply and effectively. At the same time, it gives Elin's character a depth that neither of us would ever have thought to attribute to any of the girls in our high schools who lived her life, and allows her to redeem herself convincingly without having recourse to cheese, treacle, or "I have learned my lesson" type speeches. Most importantly, the film does not pretend that once Elin finally works up the guts to accept and acknowledge her attraction to Agnes--a process which takes up much of the movie--the other students will accept and applaud this. To me, one of the most appealing things about the film is watching Elin--who, having always been popular, is terrified that the world will end once she does something that is almost certain to change that--learn from Agnes that defying peer pressure is both possible and worth the pain.
In terms of pulling punches, I think the film is pretty brave, although Liza was disappointed that there wasn't more making out. It's true there isn't much, but what there is is convincing, passionate and filmed without embarrassment or apology, which is more than we Americans can ask for from a mainstream movie.
We, of course, identified with Agnes and not Elin, and her angst and torment reminded us of our similar angst and torment a little more vividly than we perhaps wanted. But it does pay us off for all of that just as it rewards Agnes. In the end, this film is about taking your girlfriend's hand and administering a giant, public fuck-you to all the other kids who have been making your life miserable. I wish I had been brave enough (or smart enough, or girlfriendful enough) to do that in high school; but I still aspire to do that as an adult, every day of my life. And for all those of us who share that aspiration, Show Me Love is a very encouraging sign.
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