Swedish novelist and poet Lukas Moodysson burst onto the international movie scene with his acclaimed film Show Me Love (Fucking Amal) in 1998 and the blockbuster hit Together in 2001 which profiled a group of hippies in 1970s Stockholm. In 2007, The Guardian ranked the filmmaker 111th on the list of the world’s 40 best directors. Following the release of his film Lilya-r-ever, about a young Russian prostitute, The New York Times proclaimed him “Sweden’s most praised filmmaker since Ingmar Bergman.”
Moodysson’s delightful new film, We Are the Best, is an adaptation of his wife Coco’s graphic novel about three young misfits growing up in Stockholm in the early 1980s. Mohawk-sporting Klara (Mira Grosin) and her best friend Bobo (Mira Barkhammar) are 13-year-old rebels looking for a cause. Despite having no instruments — or any discernible musical talent — the two put all their energy into forming an all-girl punk band, recruiting their shy, classical guitar-playing schoolmate Hedvig (Liv LeMoyne) as the third wheel. This is one of the most affectionate and observant portraits of rebellious adolescent life that I’ve seen in ages. I spoke with the Lukas Moodysson just before the film’s U.S. release.
Danny Miller: I think it’s so interesting that this film is adapted from your wife’s graphic novel. Did she feel protective over the characters as you were making the film?
Lukas Moodysson: Not at all. She was thrilled that I was turning her story into a movie. We spend every waking hour together — during the day we work in two rooms that are right next to each other — so we are only too happy to establish some boundaries when it comes to our different projects!
Was there a strong autobiographical thread in her graphic novel?
Oh yes! In the original book, the main character is even called Coco, my wife’s name. One of the first things I did was change that to Bobo, just to make it my own in a way! But she’s pretty close to that character except she played guitar instead of drums.
The actresses who play Bobo, Klara and Hedvig are just phenomenal. Was casting those roles a very long and difficult process?
It took a long time but I wouldn’t really say it was difficult, if that makes any sense. I found some excellent actresses and tested them in many different ways and combinations to make sure they were capable of conveying all of the emotions that I needed. We did a LOT of tests and I’m sure it was very annoying for them — but by the end they all got to know me very well and the story. We finally narrowed it down to a few girls for each role and I’ll tell you what the difficult part was — building these girls’ dreams up and then having to crush them! I really like working with children and teenagers but it’s a terrible, inhuman thing you have to do when you have to say no to some of them. It’s my least favorite part of the process — to the point where every time I cast young people in a movie I tell myself I’m never going to do it again because I feel so terrible saying no to them! I make sure I’m very kind about it but it’s a horrible thing.
What do you think makes you so adept at working with the young people in your films?
It’s funny because I write a lot of things that are not about kids at all but it always seems that the things I write that are focused on young people are the films that tend to become the most popular in my country and are the ones that get seen outside of Sweden. I do think people tend to get more closed down as they get older so I love exploring that openness. I love how kids react so strongly to everything and always seem so open to new experiences.
Like deciding to start a band when you can’t play any instrument and are not particularly talented!
Exactly! And these girls didn’t know how to play at all so when you see them learning to become a band in the film, it’s exactly what was happening! Except for the girl who played Hedvig, she had to know how to play the guitar.
I really loved that character. What made you decide to have her be a religious Christian?
That’s something I invented — it wasn’t in my wife’s book. I love that there are these two outsiders and then this girl comes on the scene who’s even more of an outsider than they are. I wanted to look at how someone from a very different background would cope with these other girls.
And the irony that it’s actually the religious one that is the coolest!
Yeah, a lot of people told me that they had crushes on Hedvig!
Did you give these actresses a crash course in the music of your childhood?
No, not really. They weren’t familiar with it at all and they hated it at first. They had no idea how to play it, which I liked. I never talked to them that much about life in the 1980s — I tried to find the most un-80s clothes that would have been around in 1982. I really didn’t want this film to look like a parody of that time period — so often films about this era turn into that. But I have to say it was a kind of dream to be able to make a movie about the music I grew up with!
I related so much to these characters, even though I couldn’t have had a more different adolescence. I wonder if your films about young people get more play around the world because no matter what the culture or time period, everyone can relate to that kind of adolescent misery and angst!
Yes, I think so. To be honest, when I made this film I thought, “Oh, this one will never get released elsewhere, it’s just too Swedish!” Between the Swedish music and all of these little details that foreign audiences will never pick up, I thought it didn’t stand a chance. But I’ve been to many screenings in this country and I have to say that in some cases audiences in the United States seem even more enthusiastic than people were in Sweden!
It’s so frustrating to me how difficult it seems to be getting to see foreign films here. Does that bother you?
I guess I’ve been pretty lucky. Look, I started out as a poet and I was deliriously happy if 100 people read my book! To this day, I think that anything more than 100 people seeing my work is fantastic. If someone told me that a million people saw one of my films, I wouldn’t even be able to comprehend what that means. I’m still very happy if I meet three people who can relate to a film that I’ve made. But at the same time, I love libraries and online sites that make these movies accessible to a much wider audience. From an objective perspective, I agree that it’s sad that films from other countries are not shown here as much as they should be, but for as far as my own personal experience, it feels like a huge bonus every time one of my films gets seen by anyone outside of Sweden!
Can you imagine ever working in the American film industry?
Honestly? No, I don’t think so. I’m very, very Swedish. I mean, it’s okay for me to speak with you today in English but I feel much more at home in my own Swedish language — I really can’t imagine it.
So if you got an offer tomorrow to direct the next $300 million Marvel movie, would you take the meeting?
Hmmmm. It’s true that the older I get, the more I start thinking that I better earn more money so that I can support my family and leave something for my children if I die. So I might be tempted for a few minutes — but no, probably not. I’m pretty happy doing what I’m doing.