Show Me Love (1998)

Two teenage girls in small-town Sweden. Elin is beautiful, popular, and bored with life. Agnes is friendless, sad, and secretly in love with Elin.

Director:

Lukas Moodysson

Writer:

Lukas Moodysson

Stars:

Alexandra Dahlström, Rebecka Liljeberg, Erica Carlson

19 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alexandra Dahlström	...	Elin Olsson
Rebecka Liljeberg	...	Agnes Ahlberg (as Rebecca Liljeberg)
Erica Carlson	...	Jessica Olsson
Mathias Rust	...	Johan Hulth
Stefan Hörberg	...	Markus
Josefine Nyberg	...	Viktoria (as Josefin Nyberg)
Ralph Carlsson	...	Agnes' Father Olof
Maria Hedborg	...	Agnes' Mother Karin
Axel Widegren	...	Agnes' Little Brother Oskar
Jill Ung	...	Elin's Mother Birgitta
Lisa Skagerstam	...	Camilla
Lina Svantesson	...	Malin
Johanna Larsson	...	Sara
Elinor Johansson	...	Jenny
Jessica Melkersson	...	Sabina

Storyline

Åmål is a small insignificant town where nothing ever happens, where the latest trends are out of date when they get there. Young Elin has a bit of a bad reputation when it comes to guys, but the fact is that she is inexperienced in that matter. Another girl in her school, Agnes, is in love with her but is too shy to do anything about it. For a number of reasons, Elin ends up at Agnes' birthday party as the only guest. They have a girl's night out together but after that Elin desperately avoids Agnes, refusing to even consider her own feelings toward Agnes.

---

Plot Keywords:

lesbian | sweden | school | birthday party | small town | 

---

Taglines:

Varför måste vi bo i fucking jävla kuk-Åmål?

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Sweden Denmark

Language:

Swedish

Release Date:

23 October 1998 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Show Me Love

Filming Locations:

Film i Väst, Nohab Industrial Estate, Trollhättan, Västra Götalands län, Sweden

Box Office

Budget:

SEK 9,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$17,110, 17 October 1999, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$168,761, 22 April 2001

Company Credits

Production Co:

Memfis Film, Det Danske Filminstitut, Film i Väst

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The title of the movie was a phrase director Lukas Moodysson wrote on the first page of his script. Somebody noticed it sounded like a good title and Moodysson used it officially as the movie's title from then on.

---

Goofs

When Agnes is lying on the bed crying and her father is sitting beside her, the appearence of her hair changes several times between shots.

---

Quotes

Elin: We're, like, grounded just because I happened to wear no pants!

---

Crazy Credits

At the end of the credits, there is a picture of two hearts with "COCO" between them. Coco is the name of director Lukas Moodysson's wife.

---

Connections

Referenced in Bag om filmen 'Fucking Åmål' (1999)

---

Soundtracks

I'll Be Gone
Lyrics Written by Henrik Berggren (as Berggren) and Music Composed by Broder Daniel
Framförd av/Performed by Broder Daniel: Henrik Berggren (vocals), Anders Göthberg (guitar), Lars Malmros (drums), Håkan Hellström (bass), Theodor Jensen (guitar)
Med tillstånd av Jimmy Fun Music / Dolores Recordings

User Reviews

One of the best love stories seen on film

I watched this with my girlfriend, who said it was one of the best love stories she had ever seen - I tend to agree. I am not usually a fan of love stories, preferring a good zombie flick, but this one transcended the genre by showing emotion and motivation of the characters in such an interesting way that you couldn't help but sympathize with them.

I confess that my motivations for watching it were rather base; I heard that it was about teenage Swedish lesbians, and thought that was a subject I would certainly like to explore in more depth. On the one hand, there are none of the explicit scenes I was hoping for; on the other hand, I got into the movie so much I didn't miss them.

Fans of love stories, teenage angst, girl power and anything related will definitely like this movie. Other people will like it too, you'll just have to talk them into watching it. It would certainly make a good date movie, or just one to provoke discussion and romance.