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DigsMagazine.com.
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Me Love
[Fucking Åmål] 1998
Directed + written by:
Lukas Moodysson
Starring: Alexandra Dahlström, Rebecka Liljeberg
Language: Swedish [with English subtitles]
Look for it at the video store under:
drama, foreign [Sweden]
Watch it when you’re in the mood
for something: lovey
The critic says:
 /
5 the rating system
explained
Fun factor:
/ 5 |
Plot synopsis
On her 16th birthday,
unpopular Agnes wants two things above all else: (1) that by some
miracle she won’t have to go through with the stupid birthday party
that her well-intentioned mother has planned, and (2) that her crush,
Elin, will fall in love with her. Neither seems particularly likely to
happen. Her mother’s gone so far as to print out invitations for Agnes
to hand out to her schoolfriends – not that Agnes has any – and is
busily getting the house ready for the celebration. And beautiful,
popular Elin barely knows Agnes exists … though even if she did, all
evidence points to the likelihood that Elin’s strictly into boys, and
wouldn’t condescend to associate with anyone as un-cool as Agnes
anyway. The fact is, though, that Elin’s reputed life is far more
exciting than the reality, which consists largely of getting drunk with
her older sister Jessica and making out – but never sleeping -- with
countless very dull, very stupid boys. Elin’s so sick of life in
small-town Åmål she can barely stand it. And since the mere idea of
yet another boring evening spent with the same old dippy friends and
idiot boys makes her want to scream, she convinces her sister to go
along with her and check out Agnes’ party. Which is how Agnes happens
to find the girl of her dreams sitting in her bedroom, on the night of
what’s been an otherwise-awful birthday …
Review Show
Me Love is an abysmally bland title for a movie that’s anything
but. I mean, really, aren’t you ten times more likely to pick up a box
with the title Fucking Åmål (the original Swedish title)? Damn
the censors. Fortunately, a Swedish friend of a friend happened to
introduce this little gem to a group of us ignorant Americans as a fine
example of modern-day Swedish cinema. Fucking Åmål is both an
adorable love story and a very entertaining, poignantly realistic look
at what it’s like to be a teenage girl – straight or gay, popular or
unpopular, living in Sweden or anywhere else in the developed world.
Everything about its portrayal of teenage life rings pitch-perfect true
… from the details depicting teen obsessions – mooning over yearbook
pictures, repeatedly doodling your beloved’s name in your notebook
before quickly scribbling over the evidence, using your friends as
intermediaries to test out the potential for your love being returned
– to the way in which even a kid like Agnes, with the kindest parents
in the world, still feels like her family doesn’t understand her
at all. The characters, too, impeccably realized by the young actors,
feel fully developed and very real, in large part because they’re
allowed to be a little inconsistent, neither good nor bad but just plain
human. (Even Agnes, with whom you tend to sympathize, is at one point
incredibly cruel to her handicapped friend. Later, when Agnes
apologizes, her spurned friend is straight-out mean in return.) Fucking
Åmål is the rare teen film that skips the standard stereotypes and
the smart-alecky one-liners without sacrificing any of the humor. It’s
funny; it’s honest; it’s as sweet and as aching as your first crush. —reviewed by Y. Sun
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