Show Me Love (film)

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Show Me Love
Directed by	Lukas Moodysson
Produced by	Lars Jönsson
Written by	Lukas Moodysson
Starring	Rebecka Liljeberg, Alexandra Dahlström, Mathias Rust
Distributed by	Sonet Film
Release date(s)	October 23, 1998
Running time	89 min.
Country	Sweden
Language	Swedish
Budget	SEK 9,000,000
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Show Me Love, originally titled Fucking Åmål, is a 1998 Swedish film directed by Lukas Moodysson.

All of the English-language releases of the film use the title Show Me Love, which lacks the English-language swear word "fucking" as seen in the Swedish title.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]} According to Moodysson, the problem with the original title started when the film was Sweden's candidate for the Academy Awards, though it was eventually not chosen as a nominee: the Hollywood industry magazine Variety refused to run an advertisement for a film with that title, and thus American distributor Strand Releasing asked for a new title to be chosen.^[8] Moodysson took the new title from the song at the end of the film.

The film was also distributed in other countries using titles without the profanity, such as Raus aus Åmål (Get out of Åmål), Descubriendo el Amor (Discovering Love), Amigas de Colégio (School Friends), Láska je láska (Love is Love), and Покажи мне любовь (Pokazhi mne ljubov' = Show me Love). The Swedish title refers to the small town of Åmål in south-western Sweden. Only a few scenes were actually filmed in Åmål,^[9] but these ended up being not included in the final version: the main shooting took place in the nearby town of Trollhättan, which is the home-town of the Film i Väst film studios. ^[10]

The movie was written and directed by writer-turned film-maker Lukas Moodysson, and was his first full length film. The two main characters are played by Rebecka Liljeberg, as Agnes, and Alexandra Dahlström, as Elin. The movie won four Guldbagge Awards at the 1999 awards ceremony. Its international awards include the Teddy award at the 1999 Berlin Film Festival.

Strand Releasing released the film in North America where it was given an "unrated" certificate. Momentum released the film in the United Kingdom, where the British Board of Film Classification gave the film a "15" film certificate. Madman Entertainment released the film in Australia, where the film received a "MA 15+" film certificate. In Sweden (like the rest of Scandinavia) the film had a "11" film certificate.^[11]

[edit] Plot summary

The film develops the relationship between popular girl Elin (left) and unpopular Agnes (right), who harbors a crush on Elin.

The film tells the story of two girls, Agnes and Elin, who go to school in the small town of Åmål in Sweden. Elin is outgoing and popular, but finds her life unsatisfying and dull. Agnes, by contrast, has no real friends and is constantly depressed. Agnes has a crush on Elin, but cannot find any way to express it.

Agnes's parents worry about their daughter and try to make her happy. Her mother decides, against Agnes's will, to throw a 16th birthday party for her, and Agnes is afraid no one will come. Viktoria, a girl in a wheelchair, shows up and Agnes shouts at her in front of her parents, telling her they are only friends because no one wants to make friends with either of them.

Elin arrives late at Agnes's house, mainly as an excuse to avoid going to a different party, where there will be a boy she wants to avoid. Elin's older sister, Jessica, who comes with her, dares her to kiss Agnes, who is rumoured to be a lesbian. Elin fulfills the dare, and then runs out with Jessica, only to soon feel guilty for having humiliated Agnes.

After having gotten drunk at the other party, Elin returns to Agnes's house to apologise. She even manages to persuade Agnes to return with her to the other party. It is on the way to the other party that Elin shares her real feelings about being trapped in Åmål. On impulse, Elin persuades Agnes to hitch to Stockholm (a five-hour journey); a car even stops and agrees to take them. It is while sitting in the backseat together that they first kiss 'for real'. The driver sees them and orders them out. Elin discovers that she is attracted to Agnes but is afraid to admit it. She pretends to be in love with Johan Hult (Mathias Rust). Elin and Agnes eventually show each other's feelings at the end of the film, where, after a climactic scene in a school bathroom, they decide to literally "out" their relationship to the whole school. The film ends with Elin and Agnes enjoying each other's company sitting in Elin's bedroom and drinking chocolate milk.

[edit] Reception

The film received the highest audience figures for a Swedish film in 1998-9, with a total audience of 867,576, and a total audience for the whole of Europe of 2,100,000.^[12]

Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 90% positive rating.^[4]

[edit] Awards

• Amanda Awards, Norway: Best Foreign Feature Film (1999)
• Atlantic Film Festival: Best International Feature (1999)
• Teddy Award: Best Feature Film (1999)
• Bodil Awards: Best Non-American Film (2000)
• European Film Awards: nominee, Best Film (1999)^[13]
• GLAAD Media Awards: Outstanding Film (Limited Release) (2000)^[14]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Fucking Åmål at the Internet Movie Database
• Fucking Åmål scene to sceneFilm trailer (1998) (English)
• Portal-like fan site, in English and Slovak.
• Original script, in Swedish
• English subtitles, translated script