"What It's All About"

[kant1781]

Dear all,

I have been visiting the forum as a guest for some months but have never posted anything so far. Meanwhile, I have written a very long essay on Fucking Åmål that I would like to share with you. It’s called „What It’s All About“. I just had to write something about the film to get clear about why it’s so incredibly good. It got terribly long and is only for the obsessed. But I would be honoured if some of you read it! I will gladly respond to any kind of comment, criticism or suggestion, either here on the forum or via email. Why not have some serious discussion about our favourite film? There’s so much in it to talk about.

You can read the text online here:
<a href='http://people.freenet.de/what-its-all-about/' target='_blank'>What It's All About</a>

You can also directly download it as a pdf file here:
<a href='http://people.freenet.de/what-its-all-about/datafiles/What_Its_All_About_100505103c759494f.pdf' target='_blank'>What It's All About - pdf</a>

(I have also posted this in the forums of rebecka-liljeberg.com and alexandra-dahlstrom.com in order to reach everyone, please don’t be annoyed by the cross-posting).
Best regards to everyone,

Dave
<a href='mailto:kant1781@freenet.de'>kant1781@freenet.de</a>

[arkz1531]

I just started to read it so I am not even close to done yet but I already think it is a great essay and I think it is wonderful that people still want to write a lot about this movie. I am sure I will love reading this novel. It looks like you took a lot of time writing this.

[kant1781]

olleyes: Hej... thanx! Please keep on! Hope you still like it when you're done (and if you don't, tell me as well). It's wonderful that there are people who (still, or again) want to read a lot about this movie! It did take a lot of time... nearly half a year, but at rather irregular intervals, whenever I could spare some time.

[robinn]

I will read it! Someday, I promise!

[sydney]

I promissed I will also. But time and nice weather did not work at all. But I am very curious, now time has to give me some room.

[styvisor]

I've started reading it. And so far, so good

[arkz1531]

Finished.

[arkz1531]

That was the best movie review, if you want to call it that, I have ever read. I was watching the whole movie again in my head while I read it.

[kant1781]

Hey arkz1531, you're too kind! Thanks for really really doing it!
I'm very happy about what you said - that you could watch it again in your head. Because, apart from stating my opinions about some aspects of the film that I think are sometimes misunderstood, that was what I wanted to try - an experiment, so to speak - : Translating the pictures in words. So very often, I have felt like, "It's so great, but no words that I use to describe it can express my feelings", and I wanted to see if it's possible to change this. I'm sure this worked better with some parts and worse with others.

[arkz1531]

No problem kant. I'm sure many other people will love it too.

[Narcissus]

I've been reading little bits of this when i get the chance, ive got exams at the moment so everything's a little hectic. Great work so far! I'll check in again when I'm finished, or when my exams are done and dusted; whichever is sooner!


Ciao!

[noribori]

You really made a lot of O'Boy (to use your own gentle words). But that's okay. It only makes it difficult to answer without writing another 30 pages.

Your essay has a wide range, not only exploring and commenting all key scenes in a microscopic manner, but also surveying them from a distant view by comparing them with other works of art and bringing a lot of additional information into context. This makes an enjoyable read - I highly recommend your text to everyone, especially those, who believe they might already know all about the movie FA (Fucking Åmål). Your text made me throw away my opinions of the movie and rethink everything just from the beginning. It's a good starting point for further discussions and I wish you a lot of different responses in the future.

The first question you want to answer is "What is the movie really about?".
Your elaborated and eloquent answer is summarized in the formula "identity, recognition, commitment and redemption".
Identity - interesting thoughts about the difference between Elin and Agnes
Recognition - I really loved this part about "being yourself is something that you cannot do alone"
Commitment - obviously a major theme of the movie
Redemption - here my doubts began. Maybe it's only the word - it's always difficult to find a single word which fits perfectly. A redemption is for me a final solution which ends all the trouble. Maybe "Shrek" is a movie where redemption fits better. In FA the end of the movie sure is happy, but we know that it's only a happy moment. Everthing else is left open.
Lukas Moodyssson said in his movie comment, that when they go out "They are brave, but this is something one can do when one is in passion". "The real brave is (…) after, if they dare to see each other's eyes and talk."
For me the grande finale of the movie is a triumph of positive emotion ("love") above fear and doubt, but I wouldn't call that "redemption". (If you ask for another word I suggest "Intimacy", for which the bridge, the toilet cabin and the O'Boy scene could be seen as symbols. The movie shows "intimacy" in contrast to parental love, friendship and peer pressure.)


After the major part of your essay you want to answer another question: "Why do so many people love this movie so much?". This is risky, some people might only read this short part because they think it's the conclusion of the whole essay. Which would be a pity, I think this is by far the weakest part of your essay - I really missed some important points here. But it's a good part to start further discussions.

(I made a short compilation of this part, but of course everyone should read your original text, which is <a href='http://people.freenet.de/what-its-all-about/' target='_blank'>here</a>. I'm speaking about part 8 now).

"The characters are so believable and close to us", "the film immediately invites us to compare ourselves to the characters","you didn't see two international moral superheroes, you saw two ordinary girls, weak, human scared, just like you in every respect. If they can, you can. And so the film constitutes a promise: Go and do likewise, and you will find redemption.""And that is, why (…) FA feels so incredibly uplifting, heart-warming and life-longing."

The first point you miss is beauty.
"You saw two ordinary girls" - come on! That's totally totally wrong! The "incredibly beautyful story of two girls in love" is, of course, also the story of two incredibly beautiful girls. Sure, Alexandra and Rebecka weren't superstars when they were casted. But the movie obviously wants us not only to accept them as a couple, he wants us to adore them! "We are underground, we are underground, and we look, we look so good!" The movie encourages us in every way to see this lesbian couple as bright stars to which you can look up. And that's good, because it's not the usual way a lesbian couple is portrayed.
We love the movie because we love its cute actors.

The second point you miss is fear, or better the way FA handles "fear".
German newspaper "taz" recently mentioned, that the fear to be or to become a homosexual is still the number one reason for suicide attempts among teenagers.
<a href='http://www.taz.de/pt/2005/06/18/a0259.nf/text.ges,1' target='_blank'>taz-article (in German)</a>
That's hard to believe, as homosexuality is widely accepted in the media, and even a kind of marriage was introduced in Germany a few years ago. But the situation in a lot of families is not so open-minded.
Movies about homosexuality often want to address these problems. Unintentionally they confirm the fear of teenagers that a homosexual has a messed up life, full of trouble, fights and pain.
FA has a different approach. Whenever we expect troubles ahead (e.g. Elin: "Mum, I'm a lesbian"), the movie turns around and something funny or cute happens. The movie doesn't want to show us the troubles in the first place. It wants to be uplifting, it wants to show, that "homosexuality" is love in the first place, not uncomfortable feelings. Just like Elin, who finally decides to ignore standing on a "A-drain". Some critics got this wrong, saying that FA lacks depth. But we love the movie because it is a "love story", not a "problem film".

The third point you miss is laughter.
You mention Wildean wit and romantic irony. But your description of the movie completely ignores the funny moments - maybe because it's not important for your formula? (Example: When the driver of the Saab comes back and disturbes the kiss, you only describe it as "the world intrudes". You are not interested in the fun and laughter which follows). But how can you answer the question "Why do people fall in love with this movie?" without considering the laughter of the audience?
The movie is very much about emotions, and the title "Fucking Åmål" wants to provoke us a bit. Will this be an uncomfortable movie? Will we really accept those emotions? Even if they are sometimes too strong? Even if the girls are sometimes "weird"? But we find out that it's easy to connect with them. They explore "terra incognita", which always means there might be dangers ahead. But those dangers are often only chimeras, man-made fears, made up by timid people. They can disappear suddenly and unexpected - and we laugh.
The best example for this is Elin leaving the toilet, saying "Tada! Here I am. This is my new girlfriend. Please move. We are going to go and fuck." With the biggest bang (outburst of laughter) our fears (that the movie might end with pain and struggle) disappear and our fearless heroins leave the building like invincible heros.
Elin and Agnes reward themselves with O' Boy for overcoming their fears. But dangers are not always chimeras. Sometimes dangers are dangers, and the dangers of a real relationship are still ahead of them. But that's not what the movie is about (I can't see further promises about redemption).
We love the movie because it rewards us for connecting with Elin and Agnes on their "terra incognita" trip. It rewards us for our fearlessness with cute and funny emotions, just as Elin and Agnes reward themselves with O' Boy.

Conclusion:
I decided to discuss this last part of the essay because it was the easiest to answer. I was able to reflect on why I found the movie heart-warming myself, and David Christian's answer wasn't quite convincing for me. But again I want to say that in my opinion this was the weakest part of the text. I recommend everyone to read the much better main part of the essay, not only because of the many interesting ideas you'll find in it, but also because of the new ideas you'll get yourself while reading it. None of these lines here would have been written without David Christian's essay. But the best thing is: it might even help you to see FA in a new way.

[kant1781]

(The following reply was originally posted around June 23rd or so, but got lost when the forum crashed... I just repost it to continue the discussion.)

Noribori, obviously the first thing I have to say is: thank you, thank you, thank you! When I asked for comments on my text, I was dimly hoping for something like this. Applause never hurts, of course. But what I really depend on is critical feedback. I know that there are blindspots in my point of view. The thing is, you can’t discover your own blindspots (that’s why they are blindspots). So what I really need is criticism and suggestions from others who have different views about FA. You definitely have your own perspective and you took a lot of time and patience to deal with mine. I can already tell that your contribution forces me to rethink some important points. (And if you presented me with 30 pages in this style, I wouldn’t mind, although maybe other users of this forum would... you have my email address!)
For the moment, let me try to respond to you on just two points:

(1) I’m pleased that you are willing to back the „identity-recognition-commitment“ chord. You register your doubts with „redemption“, however. I think I understand your reservation, but maybe I can defuse it. I admit that I’m not completely sure myself what to think on this point, but maybe discussing it will help... Let me try. To begin with, I left the word „redemption“ more or less unexplained, which was a mistake. You understand it as referring to „a final solution“, something that lasts forever, like that fairy tale ending, „...and they lived happily together ever after until the day they died.“ And, of course, FA has none of this. But that’s not what I meant by „redemption“. What I wanted to refer to is rather a state of bliss in which all the pain, hardship and suffering that was necessary in order to attain that state has been completely overcome and forgotten. Actually, your „triumph over fear and doubt“ comes quite close to what I wanted to say. Such a precious moment of fulfilment is what I call „redemption“, and, granted, redemption in that sense is a fleeting state that never lasts long. (Maybe, then, you’ll say that I should choose another word. Maybe. But „intimacy“ isn’t strong enough to my ears). That’s the first thing. But there’s a second, which is more decisive. It has to do with the question of how to take the film’s ending. One of your arguments is that the real dangers of a relationship still lie ahead of Agnes and Elin and that there’s no promise of redemption on this. The film’s ending is, as you say, „open“, and it has to be, otherwise it would be schmaltzy. And of course I agree. FA doesn’t touch upon what will happen in school the next morning or when Jessica turns up at home. But I do want to argue that, although the ending is left open, it is not completely left open. That’s a subtle point, but I think it’s a crucial one for an interpretation of the film in general and the „redemption“ question especially. Maybe the best way to explain what I mean is by taking issue with the Lukas Moodysson statement you quoted. I know the statement and I have thought a lot about it. In fact, I had an entire passage about it in the essay until I kicked it out for matters of brevity (that always backfires!!). To cut a long story short: I have come to think that Lukas is wrong here. He misreads his own film. In his comment, he continues by explaining something like, „Elin could have returned to school and say, ‚I was only joking’“. Now that seems to me just totally wrong. In fact, the whole point of the section on „commitment“ (No 6) of my essay is to explain why I think so. Contrary to Lukas’s self-interpretation, the entire FA script points to the coming out as the true moment of bravery, in which Elin’s long journey to committing herself culminates. There’s no return from there. (I’ll not repeat my argument for this claim here). That, in turn, changes the air of the O’boy scene: It then appears not so much as the decisive moment of bravery, in which the real thing is still at stake or just about to begin, but rather as a very peaceful coda in which something that has already and truly been achieved is savoured and enjoyed for the moment. That way of seeing the final scene does not make it a „final solution“, but it definitely makes the film’s ending less open (meaning: insecure) as one might think. And now here’s a conjecture: Judging from the hundreds of comments on FA I have read, and judging from my own experiences, I’d say that most people (me among them) do not feel insecure about FA’s ending. Rather, they feel that the film’s ending is „happy“, although everybody knows that the real problems still lie ahead. Somehow, we trust that Agnes and Elin will make it. We believe. That’s what’s behind all the talk about the film being „uplifting“, „heart-warming“, and so on. But what is behind this feeling, if the end is just being left open? Is it just wishful thinking on the part of sentimental types like me? I don’t think so. I think there’s a reason for this feeling, which is that the ending is not quite as open as it may seem to some viewers or as Lukas Moodysson himself claims. His film is stronger than he himself is ready to see. The reason why the ending makes us believe (and so feels happy) doesn’t fly in our faces and so avoids being flat, it’s so subtly and wonderfully worked into the story that one may not even notice it at all – and still it works. (Does that make sense to you?)

(2) I cannot really defend myself against your very clear and deep-going criticisms of section 8. It definitely is the weakest part and I fear that, in its present form, it will not survive any amendment of the text. I’m not in a position to answer the question why so many people love this film so much and I shouldn’t claim to do so. As stated initially, the only thing I can do is explain why I love it so much, and then hope that others may find themselves, at least in part, in that description.
I will have to think more about how to incorporate the things that you say I have been missing. Concerning „beauty“, well – I’d be the last to deny that having a crush on Rebecka or/and Alexandra is a natural part of the experience of watching FA. I readily grant that and actually I don’t think that I have missed it completely – I rather think that my praise for the skills and the beauty of the two of them in section 2 (and thoughout) is as explicit as one can be without making a fool of oneself... I’m ready to cancel the „ordinary girls“ if that helps! However, concerning the second and third point („fear“ and „laughter), which are closely related, you really have a deep and important point here. It’s true that the humour is missing from my description (it only shows up in the short remarks on irony in section 7, but nothing is made of it), and I have not really noticed this before (blindspot!). I especially love your point that FA’s way of alluding to the tragic dimensions of homosexual identity while refusing to play them out is not a lack of depth but rather a beautifully ironic way to play with our expectations to get its positive message through. I will have to see how to connect all this with my original perspective, but I shall have to. (Last remark, however insignificant: The example about the Saab driver is ill-chosen to my mind, because I don’t find and have never found this scene funny... I have even started a thread on this forum about it... – „How does it change“).

[fraks]

Be translation of this text on russian?

If I translate this text that possible its place on your site, together with the original?

Possible want to indicate versions of source text that was seen what from they were translated, as this is done in translations of documentation...

[fraks]

I have translated "What It's All About" on russian.
http://fraks.sibverk.ru/svenska/FA/What ... US.doc.zip