#17
Post
by domino harvey » Sun Mar 16, 2014 4:46 pm
Oh, way beyond that: it's a straight-up masterpiece. I can hardly be accused of only being a fair-weather Moodysson fan (I was one of the few to defend Mammoth upon release), but this is exactly the film anyone who loved Fucking Åmål has been waiting for. Moodysson's keen eye with regards to capturing youth (especially, it must be said after Fucking Åmål, Lilja 4-Ever, and this, young girls) is so well-suited to the story of these three girls and the three astonishing child actresses who embody their roles that there are multiple times over the course of the picture when I literally couldn't even believe the film was so good. It's also easily Moodysson's most laugh out loud funny film (and one of the funniest pics I've seen from anyone in some time). I was in tears from laughing so hard several times throughout, and the laughs come from such a warm and honest place that it feels almost therapeutic. Moodysson is of course unafraid of painting his characters without the use of stock solutions and machinations, and the girls, especially Klara, frequently say some truly awful shit perfectly tuned to an 8th grader's view of rebellion. There are no weak links here, but my favorite character has to be the unlikely third member of the band, Hedvig, who is shunned by the rest of the school for being overtly Christian and yet finds kinship with the two atheist girls. Some of the film's finest moments come from her trying to navigate their world on her way towards making it hers as well. It's telling that she's the one in the climactic performance to first shout-out the film's titular line, and it's a wonderfully observed victory in a film with lots of competition for best moments.
What an exhilarating moviegoing experience! Lists of the best films ever to deal with youth just got one title longer, and near the top.