'We are the Best' is focused on three 13 year old girls as they form a punk band. The film has all the highs and lows of adolescence intertwined into the quest of being the best punk band ever; teenage angst, first love, friendship, crushes, family, identity and the disastrous consequences of drinking too much too young!
Klara (Mira Grosin) and Bobo (Mira Barkhammer) are two androgynous looking girls who don't fit in with others at their school, and are bullied for looking different. They love punk and live by the values of anti-establishment mentality and reject mainstream society and commercial disco music. One day at their after school club in order to get heavy metal band Iron Fist to stop playing their offensively loud music Bobo and Klara decide to fight music with music and start a band of their own. They don't have any instruments or indeed know how to play any, but that doesn't stop them, and I'm pretty sure there are some famous bands out there that started similarly. Outspoken and mouthy Klara nominates herself as lead singer and bassist, forcing Bobo onto the drums. Their song 'Hate the Sport' is about their dislike for PE and their fascist teacher. Whilst they can master the lyrics their musical ability does not improve. Bobo sees an opportunity in recruiting Hedvig (Liv LeMoyne), a classical guitar player who is also a social outcast due to being a strict Christian. In a quest to convert her from Christianity to punk they cut off her long blonde hair to fit in with Bobo's crop and Klara's Mohawk.
The girls meet up with an all boy punk band that perform their catchy anthem 'Brezhnev and Reagan, F*ck Off!' Tensions between the friendship of Klara and Bobo arise when they both have feelings for one of the boys. However, friendship wins out and the band goes on to perform in a neighbouring town, where there is a great punk-fuelled ending to the film as they shout and hurl abuse at the audience in the venue.
Lukas Moodysson's We Are the Best! is certainly one of the most honest, heart-warming and endearing films about female friendship I've seen. It is adapted from his wife, Coco Moodysson's graphic novel, Never Goodnight. The story is a fictionalised account of her own teenage years as a punk rocker. It is definitely a film that can be enjoyed by adults as well as teenagers. The acting was amazing in the film and all girls gave a great performance, from Liv LeMoyne's wonderful folk playing and singing, to the comedic timings and playful nature of Grosin and Barkhammer, also special mention to the highly amusing, clarinet playing father of Klara played by David Dencik.
So far the film has picked up three awards; The Reykjavik International Film Festival Audience Award, Tokyo International Film Festival Grand Prix Award and Philadelphia Film Festival Best Ensemble. Will it win the Bath Film Festival audience award? I sure hope so as it definitely deserves it and it would wholeheartedly have my vote. I loved this film.
See the review on the Bath Film Festival blog: http://bathffblogger.wordpress.com/2013/12/10/we-are-the-best/
Klara (Mira Grosin) and Bobo (Mira Barkhammer) are two androgynous looking girls who don't fit in with others at their school, and are bullied for looking different. They love punk and live by the values of anti-establishment mentality and reject mainstream society and commercial disco music. One day at their after school club in order to get heavy metal band Iron Fist to stop playing their offensively loud music Bobo and Klara decide to fight music with music and start a band of their own. They don't have any instruments or indeed know how to play any, but that doesn't stop them, and I'm pretty sure there are some famous bands out there that started similarly. Outspoken and mouthy Klara nominates herself as lead singer and bassist, forcing Bobo onto the drums. Their song 'Hate the Sport' is about their dislike for PE and their fascist teacher. Whilst they can master the lyrics their musical ability does not improve. Bobo sees an opportunity in recruiting Hedvig (Liv LeMoyne), a classical guitar player who is also a social outcast due to being a strict Christian. In a quest to convert her from Christianity to punk they cut off her long blonde hair to fit in with Bobo's crop and Klara's Mohawk.
The girls meet up with an all boy punk band that perform their catchy anthem 'Brezhnev and Reagan, F*ck Off!' Tensions between the friendship of Klara and Bobo arise when they both have feelings for one of the boys. However, friendship wins out and the band goes on to perform in a neighbouring town, where there is a great punk-fuelled ending to the film as they shout and hurl abuse at the audience in the venue.
Lukas Moodysson's We Are the Best! is certainly one of the most honest, heart-warming and endearing films about female friendship I've seen. It is adapted from his wife, Coco Moodysson's graphic novel, Never Goodnight. The story is a fictionalised account of her own teenage years as a punk rocker. It is definitely a film that can be enjoyed by adults as well as teenagers. The acting was amazing in the film and all girls gave a great performance, from Liv LeMoyne's wonderful folk playing and singing, to the comedic timings and playful nature of Grosin and Barkhammer, also special mention to the highly amusing, clarinet playing father of Klara played by David Dencik.
So far the film has picked up three awards; The Reykjavik International Film Festival Audience Award, Tokyo International Film Festival Grand Prix Award and Philadelphia Film Festival Best Ensemble. Will it win the Bath Film Festival audience award? I sure hope so as it definitely deserves it and it would wholeheartedly have my vote. I loved this film.
See the review on the Bath Film Festival blog: http://bathffblogger.wordpress.com/2013/12/10/we-are-the-best/