"We Are the Best!" (2014)

Punk music has long been described has something not defined by aesthetics but by message. All you need is three chords and some attitude and you’re set. That defining DYI belief is what drives the young girls of We Are the Best! to make a band. Twelve year-olds Klara (Mira Grosin) and Bobo (Mira Barkhammar) love listening to punk music and have even chopped off their hair to look the part better, and they steal a practice space on a whim and discover they enjoy it.

But for the level of significance punk plays to the plot of the film, it really doesn’t stand out has the film’s primary interest. The aesthetics and politics of punk get casually mentioned, but what stands out more is the need for an outlet of expression of any kind. At times, Klara and Bobo don’t look or even act the part of a punk. But there is no mistake that they are social misfits as well as adolescent girls – an unfortunate combination and one that exacerbates the feeling of being misunderstood. But the film stands less as a coming of age story and more of a story about young female friendship, or even young friendship of any kind. 

This becomes most apparent when Klara and Bobo befriend Hedvig (Liv LeMoyne), an ostracized, highly religious girl who happens to be really good at playing the guitar. Hedvig doesn’t participate in all of the girls’ experimentation, such as when they steal some alcohol from a party Klara’s brother is hosting. But Hedvig is receptive to the underlying ideas and beliefs of Klara and Bobo, the ones that cut across subcultures and speak to a sense of isolation, frustration and desire to belong. 

We see their home lives. Bobo lives with her mother who is divorced and often holds drunken parties that cause Bobo to hide in her room. Listening to music becomes a form of escape. Klara’s parents angrily fight and yell but appear to be more present. Bobo is a shy, introspective person, while Klara is more outgoing, exuberant. When it comes to punk, Bobo is more into the ideas and Klara is more into the style – ironically, Klara is the rebel rouser and ring leader even as this seems somewhat put on for affect. 

Writer-director Lukas Moodysson shoots the film in an unfussy, unaffected manner. It’s lighthearted and brisk even at its most dramatic points. It feels commercial in a way that a truly punk film might not be able to pass for, but then again these girls often feel like they’re passing through a phase. The girls don’t always understand the underlying meaning of punk but they’re confused, lost and bored and it provides an outlet. The film trades stylistic authenticity in favor of emotional authenticity. The film is observational, capturing the girls simply being themselves, playing, fighting, talking, and goofing off. Much of it feels improvised and the young actors don’t feel like they’re overselling it.  

Modysson captures this niche well. He not only gets the details right for 1982 in Stockholm, but he gets the emotional cues right as well. The film does what so few films do for young girls, shows them dealing with real and pressing issues girls at this age might have to go through. For all her concerns about the band, at the end of the day, Bobo somberly admits, “I’m never gonna get a boyfriend”. It’s the type of concern that’s universal, and Moodysson is always keen to mark the experiences of the girls as general enough to resonate but specific enough to feel lived in. 

We typically think of punk as something masculine. The first shot of the film on Bobo sans context could mislead you into mistaking her for a boy. Society often has a certain conception of how girls should act and behave. These girls are tomboys; they are often not very “lady-like” (as if that mattered!). But they are good people. They are not conventionally who we would follow, but they draw us in and engage us through their enthusiasm and great personalities. It isn’t just that they are punks, but that, in a way, we all were at that age.  

For all the Bechdel Test faithfuls, they will be happy to find the film passes the test. The girls get romantically involved with some punk guys and some romantic entanglements ensue that threaten Klara and Bobo’s relationship. But at the end of the day, the film’s interests lie squarely with the friendship of its female leads. These scenes are meant to show the girls’ budding sexuality and desires and the hormones and changes compounding their anxieties. Klara’s response to Bobo getting down on herself carries the day: “You have two friends. That’s all you need”. 

We Are the Best! is a film filled with funny and delightful moments. It is warm and inviting, but it doesn’t entirely soften the edges of its adolescent or punk struggles. It captures the sense of being a carefree youth, uninhibited, unattached, and starting to come into your own, and excited and nervous as a result. All you need is some good music and a friend by your side. 

Grade: A-