A Film the World Has Been Waiting For

Norway, 2011

Få meg på, for faen 

(Int. Title: „Turn Me On, Dammit")

Directed and written by Jannicke Systad Jacobsen

★ Helene Bergsholm, Malin Bjørhovde, Henriette Steenstrup, Matias Myren

      

Since its showing at several festivals last year, this little norwegian gem of a film has been making its rounds through the societies of film gourmets, of course including the filmic blogosphere. I was instantly hooked when I first heard of it, because it was almost too good to be true: a film that revolves around the confusing thing that is (female) teenage sexuality, and that in a realistic and non-vulgar way!


I felt that my reaction to the film was somewhat different from those I had read though; while many viewers were amused about the humour and happy that somebody finally talked about this subject, I haven't heard any Oh-my-God-this-is-awesome reactions yet.
... And yes, that was my reaction, shortly.
Få meg på, for faen had me laughing and smiling, but admittedly also crying. It sort of reminded me of the japanese part of Babel, because it really touched me in a way that very few films touch me. This particular teenage feeling that I don't have a word for is so rarely described or sensed in film, or in any art form, not to mention talking about it, yet it's something I think we should give more thoughts! I don't know if it's like that, but I do imagine that you slowly forget about it when you grow up, at least I don't feel that many adults are able to fully understand what it's like to be a teenage girl.

This is a touchy issue, in fact I feel slightly uncomfortable writing about this... But I said it myself: we have to talk about this, and therefore I have to be the one to start, don't I?
I must admit that although I could relate to the main character Alma a lot, I was also embarrassed by her behaviour at times. It seems like she doesn't really think the things through often enough... but all right, people are different. And in the end, I think she was very honest. She just said what was on her mind, and she didn't care if it was "unfitting" for a girl her age.
I also liked the way she described her dreams and phantasies. The longing certainly came over, but in such a sweet and innocent, yes; innocent way. And that's a big part of what made this film so special. Many of these sequences were also portrayed in a somewhat humorous way, which took away the seriousness that was mostly attached to films of this kind. Hey, films about female adolescence don't have to be completely depressing! (Nor silly either).
Somehow, Få meg på, for faen finds the perfect way in between these two extremes.

One reason might be the setting, which is just perfect and actually typical for a lot of teens still, regardless of the much-talked-about urbanization. Especially in countries like Norway, and Denmark. Another reason for the success of this film are certainly the actors: everyone is like taken out of the real world. The cute boy from your class, your best friend who is having a kind of "dark" phase, your lip gloss friend-that-sometimes-turns-into-enemy... and the mother, of course. She was great too.

What I'm trying to say is just... I love this movie. I love it so much that I'm trying to write a review about it right now, and I don't see this going anywhere, but... I still hope someone might read it and see the film. Because, ahm, it's really good and all that...

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