"It doesn't matter what you say, we are still the best!"
This is the mantra of Lukas Moodyson's delightful coming-of-age story, about three teenage girls who form a punk band in 1980s Sweden, despite lacking any discernible musical talent. Bobo and Klara live and breathe punk, wearing their hair short and rejecting any commercial "disco" music.
It's out of pettiness that they book a session in their local community centre's music room, to get rid of the more conventional rock band (all older boys) whose rehearsal is giving them a headache. But they start messing about with a drum kit and bass guitar and compose something that helps them to express themselves- a rant against compulsory PE called "Hate The Sport".
Eventually appreciating that their combined musical prowess leaves a lot to be desired, they reach out to talented guitarist Hedvig, a loner who's mocked as a square in their school for playing Christian music in the annual talent show. Together, the three of them become a punk trio with unshakable self-esteem, at least on Bobo's part.
Moodyson's comedy has echoes of School Of Rock and Son Of Rambow, a couple of English language family comedies with a similar focus on kids being creative. Like those films, it hinges on performances from terrific young actors- Mira Barkhammar as Bobo, Mira Grosin as Klara and Liv LeMoyne as Hedvig.
Their sympathetic and believable performances are backed by a well-observed script, based on a graphic novel, Never Goodnight, by Moodyson's wife Coco. It's full of moments which feel like they might have come from first-hand experience from either the director or the original author, particularly in the interactions between the Freudian power trio, (with Klara as Marxist ego, Hedvig as well-adjusted super-ego and Bobo as a mediating id.)
But so much of the film relies upon the characters, because they're really doing it for themselves. There's no stand-in for Jack Black's Dewey as a music-savvy mentor- the duo who supervise the music room are witless and condescending, much to the girls' bemusement.
The girls' ramshackle musical education is all the more entertaining because it's self-administered and their self-assurance feels strangely hard earned, if not entirely warranted, as a result.
The story of the film spreads over the painstaking perfection of their one and only song, before subverting expectations with the hilarious finale at an all-important gig in Västerås. Because it doesn't matter what you say. They are the best.
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Lukas Moodysson directs this drama based around the lives of three young girls in 1982 Sweden. Bobo (Mira Barkhammar), Klara (Mira Grosin) and Hedvig (Liv LeMoyne) are bored of the 80s pop music that is sweeping the nation and decide to rebel and form a punk band. As the girls cut their hair, rip up their clothes and refuse to do their chores they attempt to convice their friends and families that punk is not dead.
Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play. Lukas Moodysson returns with this raucous coming-of-age comedy set in 1982, Stockholm. Klara and Bobo are united as misfits by their love of music. Ignoring their own lack of talent and the people who tell them punk is dead, the pair form their own band with shy classmate Hedvig. In between fighting over boys and provoking their metal-head nemeses, the three begin preparing for their debut live gig. Brilliantly funny and life-affirming, We Are The Best! appeals to the teenager in everyone.
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