When two friends in early 1980s Stockholm decide to start their own punk band, despite the handicap of having no musical ability whatsoever, they find that negotiating the rapids of early adolescence are more difficult & more surprising than they had imagined. With the addition of a third girl to the band, a classically-trained guitarist shunned by classmates as being too Christian, they discover the rewards & heartaches of friendship, first crushes, and a growing self-confidence they've fully earned.

With so many American films offering ghastly caricatures of childhood & coming of age, it's a pleasure to come across a film like this, which captures the innocence & angst of being thirteen years old & not fitting in -- and not wanting to, perhaps, but in some ways resenting their rejection just the same. For anyone who hasn't blotted out his or her own memories of being thirteen too much, this will ring true -- the high drama over ridiculously small incidents, the genuine pain of interacting with other human beings & finding that your feelings aren't always reciprocated, and those brief but glowing moments of connection where everything in the world is just right for a fleeting, precious instant. Most highly recommended!

Maybe it's a European thing but Lukas Moodysson's previous films, Lilya-4-Ever, Together, Show Me Love are Ken-Loach-Like-Perfect in my eyes and he tends to get the most amazing of performances from his, often young, unknown actors...he certainly did here, the performances are truly wonderful. For me, LM film releases are anticipated like Beatles /Ken Loach / Mike Leigh / Radiohead / "Alan Partridge" / Stewart Lee / Richard Dawkins releases. When the film ends I'd be surprised if you don't want to rush out immediately and share it with everyone you love or like. Subsequently if you do,and they happen to dislike this film, drop them...they cannot be human or have ever been young.

Sometimes it’s the simple things in life that make the most impact. They hold us close, comfort our soul and whisper in our ears that they love us. It’s often these simple things that we take for granted, always reaching for something that feels bigger, bolder and more obviously poignant, and yet it can be within these simple things that we find the biggest, boldest, most poignant impact.

The same can be said for film. Oftentimes films are convinced that beating us over the head with their views and ‘importance’ is the way to our hearts, or at least to our memories, but sometimes it is that film with a simple message told in a simple manner that contains the most heart and soul, and the one that reaches us deeper than we ever expected it to.

‘We Are the Best!’ is that kind of film.

I’ve said many times that children and stories about children fascinate me. They reach to the core of me. They find a soft corner of my heart and they blossom. Now that my eldest daughter is getting older (my GOD, she’s inching closer and closer to those double digits), stories about adolescence are starting to work their way in there as well. ‘We Are the Best!’ is one of those soft-hearted yet boldly idealistic portrayal of honest adolescence that makes me smile ear to ear and hope and pray that my children, but daughter’s especially, grow up into the young women THEY want to become. All that prodding and pulling every direction, all that well intentioned guidance and advice and coddling is to be expected because we’re parents and we love them and we want the best for them, but at the end of the day, I want my girls to be THEM and only them and never what they think I or their mother or anyone else wants them to be.Read more ›

In urban Sweden in the late 1980s, two pint-sized, rebellious, short-haired girls form a punk band at their local youth club. This despite their general dearth of musicianship and the fact punk is dead (or so they are told again and again). They later enlist another girl from their school, a Christian as shy as she is blonde, after realizing she is a gifted guitarist. Directed by Lukas Moodysson (Show Me Love) with a relaxed and sympathetic eye, this is a modest, but very charming and observant coming-of-age film with a spot-on understanding of the glories and pains of forging an identity amidst peer pressures and diverse pop-culture influences. The trio of leads, each in her respective feature-film debut, create a convincing and vivid energy as they argue over their crushes, rebel against the adults in their lives, and try to perfect a hard-charging power-chord protest against the public's sports fixation. Their music never particularly coheres, but their untidily do-it-yourself ethos is as hard to resist as their friendship.

This is absolutely one of the freshest of the recent crop of movies. Simple and disarming, the gentle narrative takes you in and brings alive the stories of young people growing up in Stockholm in the 80s. We begin with two girls, Klara and Bobo, both of whom are somewhat invisible to the adults in their lives as well as to their peers. They are creative enough to explore and experiment with the freedom that their marginal status paradoxically accords them. We see Klara, the dominant personality, challenged in subtle and direct ways by Bobo, who, though more reticent, is actually an equally strong character.

One of the most touching aspects of the film is the girls' decision to take in Hedvig, a talented classical guitarist who is more socially disconnected than they, as their close friend. Hedvig proves also to be their equal. Together, the three girls literally ignite as they discover their ability to collaborate in forming a punk band and writing their own music, taking on largely innocent modes of rebellion to create their own niche in a world that mostly leaves them free to find their own way.

The girls are up to the challenge, with the result that the viewer's time spent with them on-screen is richly rewarded. A highlight is the girls' theme song, "Hata Sport" ("Hate the Sport") in which they argue that there are more important things in the world than the next sports competition and "throwing your ball." The real delight of the film is watching all three girls' personalities develop. A breath of fresh Scandinavian air.