A Teen Film From Sweden, With ‘Love’

Numerous as tubes of Clearasil are films about teenagers in love, but unusual as an unblemished face are those that get it right. A completely charming reality-based romantic fantasy, both sweet-natured and sympathetic, “Show Me Love” is a leader of the pack.

An enormous hit in its native Sweden (where it was that country’s official Oscar entry last year), “Show Me Love” casually resists oversimplification. A film of considerable warmth and intimacy, it knows that by bringing a level of truth to the pain and confusion of adolescent relationships, by being honest about the pressures to conform and the difficulty of staying yourself, it enhances its moments of pleasure as well.

First-time writer-director Lukas Moodysson, himself only 30, creates an irresistible sense of complicity with this story of a mad high school crush. Who can’t empathize with those manic feelings, wondering if the other person even knows you exist, agonizing over whether to call or stoically wait by the phone. But for 16-year-old Agnes (Rebecca Liljeberg), an additional wrinkle makes all this riskier and even more intense: the object of her affections, the person whose name she can’t stop writing over and over again, is another girl.

That would be Elin (Alexandra Dahlstrom), a petite blond who dreams of being Miss Sweden and who is dark-haired Agnes’ opposite number in almost every way. If Agnes is restrained, thoughtful and almost friendless after two years in a new school, Elin is wildly popular and given to volcanic displays of emotion and temper, mostly directed toward her older sister Jessica (Erica Carlson).

Yet both girls share a sense of dissatisfaction with their life in the small town of Amal. (The film’s Swedish title expressed that frustration in extremely graphic terms.) While Agnes is troubled by being different in a place that breathes conformity, Elin, world-weary as only a teenager can be, finds outlets for her boredom in getting high (anything, even Alka-Seltzer, has party potential) and making out with what her sister malignly characterizes as “70,000 guys.” Desperate for up-to-the-minute distractions like raves, Elin complains that “when something’s in, it takes so long to get here, its already out.”

Agnes’ crush notwithstanding, these two would likely never have gotten to know each other if Elin’s fanatical desire to party hadn’t led her to be practically the only guest at a birthday event Agnes’ well-meaning but clueless mother throws for her resistant daughter.

Egged on by a bet with Jessica, as well as the school rumors that Agnes may be a lesbian, Elin engages in some foolishness with the birthday girl that only leads to Agnes’ greater misery, including increased torment from the heartless gang at school.

But though she doesn’t want it to be happening, that interaction with Agnes weighs on Elin’s mind. In part it’s guilt for having caused an innocent person pain, but new thoughts and confusions, ones Elin doesn’t dare confide in anyone but that are plainly seen on her face, start to take root in her consciousness.

It’s a mark of “Show Me Love’s” resistance to oversimplification that characters who could be simply stock figures are fleshed out and given increased reality. Johan Hult (Mathias Rust), for instance, the doltish guy who is as attracted to Elin as Agnes is, is clearly no deep thinker, but the sincerity of his affection is never in doubt.

Similarly, Agnes’ father (Ralph Carlsson) is a welcome departure from the usual teen movie dads. For one thing, he is thoughtful, empathetic and at the opposite pole from the clueless father Eugene Levy played in “American Pie,” to cite a recent example. But, in an even more accurate twist, he is so far removed from his daughter’s reality that his ability to help her is clearly limited.

“Show Me Love” also finds time to take some deft pokes at current European societal problems, highlighting the hollowness of adult lives spent watching strangers win at the televised lottery and teenagers who are obsessed with who has the slimmest, most streamlined mobile phone.

Made with welcome maturity and frankness, “Show Me Love” manages to exercise restraint while being true to the over-amped, out-of-control emotions of teenage love. The films’s grainy, neo-documentary look is appropriate, and its use of incidental music, like a bit of Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is” over a passionate kiss, is always appropriate.

Best of all, even though its central romance is between two girls, “Show Me Love” couldn’t be further from a specialty film geared only toward a niche audience. In its understanding and empathy, this film makes room for all of us, creating a world we will cherish no matter who we are or whom we love.

* Unrated. Times guidelines: strong language and a gay theme, but nothing stronger than kissing on-screen.

‘Show Me Love’

Alexandra Dahlstrom: Elin

Rebecca Liljeberg: Agnes

Erica Carlson: Jessica

Mathias Rust: Johan Hult

Stefan Horberg: Markus

A Memfis Film production, in cooperation with Zentropa Productions, Film i Vast, SVT Drama Goteberg, released by Strand Releasing. Director Lukas Moodysson. Producer Lars Jonsson. Screenplay Lukas Moodysson. Cinematographer Ulf Brantas. Editors Michal Leszczylowski, Bernhard Winkler. Art directors Lina Strand, Heidi Saikkonen. Sound Nils Nilsson. Running time: 1 hour, 29 minutes.

In limited release.