Review: We Are The Best
This is a writing sample from Scripted writer Jess O'Kane
"HATE THE SPORT! HATE THE SPORT!", 13 year-old Klara wails, her mohawk flopping. Her bandmates Bobo and Hedvig jar in time, a frenzy of elbows and grimaces. Inside their tiny practice room in a Stockholm youth club, sport is just one of many targets; tomorrow it might be parents, the next day the neighbouring town. But then Bobo cracks up, and suddenly peals of laughter ring out . The heroines of We Are the Best! may take Punk as their deity, but their emotions are entirely agnostic; swerving awkwardly between cropped-hair resistance and helpless innocence. With that in mind, it's perhaps unsurprising that the man behind it all is Lukas Moodysson – a director well known for his sensitive portrayals of characters on the cusp of adulthood. After several years of "experimental" exercises, We Are the Best! is a welcome return to form. Set in a beautifully coloured Stockholm in 1982, the film follows three misfits – Klara, Bobo and Hedvig – as they attempt to show their mums, their teachers, and just about anybody that Punk isn't really dead, and that short hair is, of course, the secret to anti-Conservatism. Thankfully, it's a far more complex and interesting film than its billing grants. Moodysson capitalises on the natural strengths (and weaknesses) of his three inexperienced leads – and it shows, even in the smallest gestures. The confident, brash Klara (Mira Grosin) makes the perfect partner to school outcast Bobo (Mira Barkhammer), and both equally invigorate the shy, religious Hedvig (Liv LeMoyne). In a beautiful moment, Bobo and Klara lie in bed while Bobo bemoans that she'll never have a boyfriend. Klara gently brushes the back of her hair and reminds her that she is, nonetheless, in the greatest band in the world. "That's something", she replies. It's this microscopic quality that makes We Are the Best! special. It's not a film about music. It's a film that uses music to contextualise the personal struggles of its characters, and to bring them forward. That's not to say that the script is dreary – quite the opposite – but that Moodysson's strength is in encompassing the world of his protagonists via small yet heartfelt crises. We Are the Best! may not be the most dramatic or innovative film you see this year, but you'll struggle to find one more thoroughly satisfying. 4/5
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