Fucking Åmål (1998)

reviewed by
Steve Rhodes


SHOW ME LOVE
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1999 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****):  **

In Lukas Moodysson's SHOW ME LOVE, it's Agnes Ahlberg's sixteenth birthday, and she's so depressed and despondent that she's about ready to slit her wrist, literally. Her parents want her to have a party, and her mother (Maria Hedborg) even fixes her some nice roast beef. This might be nice, except her mother ignores the fact that her daughter is a vegetarian.

Her party is pretty sparsely attended. Besides her parents and two girls who show up after the party is over, the only friend who comes is a girl in a wheel-chair. With a total lack of manners and civility, Agnes ridicules the girl's handicap.

Agnes's difficulty, as we learn from the beginning, is that she's a lesbian, albeit not a practicing one. She has a huge crush on Elin (Alexandra Dahlström), one of the most popular girls in school. Elin, on a bet from her friend Jessica (Erica Carlson), kisses Agnes. Agnes, experiencing her first female kiss, is shocked and embarrassed since Elin only does it to win the money from the bet.

The strength of the production is the touchingly delicate performance by Rebecca Liljeberg as Agnes. With convincing realism, she steals the show. Too bad the thin script by the director gives her so little of substance to do.

During most of the movie the characters engage in little more than small talk, a kiss of death for a subtitled film. The teenagers engage in the same sort of activities popular in bigger budget Hollywood productions. They binge drink, and they vomit. Their conversations are about which girls have done it how many time with which boys. The pungent smell of peer pressure is constantly in the air like the aroma of leftover garbage. The kids are mean to each other and constantly ridicule one another.

Elin will, of course, fall in love with Agnes but not want to admit it to her friends. The story's tension is whether, when and how Elin will reveal her secret to Agnes, to her friends and, most of all, to herself.

The picture is shot in a grainy, oversaturated, ugly style that makes looking at it relatively unpleasant, even when Rebecca Liljeberg's acting is in high gear. Why filmmakers think that to be artistic they have to make movies that look worse than the average moviegoer's home videos, I have no idea. Sure, some accomplished directors can do this to advantage, but for most it is a mistake.

Rebecca Liljeberg gives a realistic and impressive performance, but an interesting one? Not really. I'm tired of teens talking about make-up and making out. A lesbian twist to an otherwise standard story just isn't enough to make it compelling.

SHOW ME LOVE runs 1:29. The film is in Swedish with English subtitles. It is not rated but would be R for nudity, sexual discussions, language and underage alcohol abuse. The film would be acceptable for older teenagers.

Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com


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