random_avenger The liberating power of rock'n'roll music has been the source of inspiration for many movies ever since its birth in the 1950s. Films like Almost Famous (2000), The School of Rock (2003) and That Thing You Do! (1996) can be named as English-language examples of rock movies but Sweden has produced its own stories on the subject as well. To name two, Ulf Malmros' 2005 punk rock tale Tjenare kungen (a.k.a. God Save the King) makes a very nice companion piece to Reza Bagher's 2004 film adaptation of the novel Populärmusik från Vittula (a.k.a. Popular Music) that also dealt with small town kids' desire to spread their wings through music.The story, based on a 2001 novel by Britta Svensson, is set in 1984. Punk rocker girl Abra (Josefin Neldén) lives in a small town and dreams of becoming a rock star but the town's narrow-minded atmosphere is hard for rebels like her. After meeting a fellow rock fan Millan (Cecilia Wallin), Abra moves to Gothenburg and starts a band called Tjenare Kungen ("Hello King") with her but nothing comes easy for the would-be rock stars: finding members for the band in an era when punk rock has gone out of fashion to make way for synth pop and glam rock, putting up with an uptight boss at a sausage factory, sorting out romantic feelings towards a handsome guy named Dickan (Joel Kinnaman)...It can be imagined that the project has been a nostalgic one for the director Ulf Malmros who was in his late teens during the film's era. Perhaps this is why the 1980s atmosphere is so pleasantly recreated in the story: punk, rock and pop hits of the time are constantly playing, the fashion is flashy and hairstyles are as unappealing as expected. Still, everything is photographed with sunny, warm brightness that makes the film visually very pretty and youthful. The main actresses Neldén and Wallin look so cute in their roles that they can only be loved but Johanna Strömberg and Malin Morgan do their parts decently too as the self-declared fashion designer-keyboardist Gloria and the experienced older rocker chick Isa respectively. The latter is also the only significant adult character in the story; otherwise the perspective belongs entirely to the young to whom grown-ups are nothing but dead weight.The plot is nothing strikingly original or imaginative: questions of selling out, romantic shyness, triangle drama and temporarily falling out with one's best friend are all ordinary youth flick material and would not carry the film far if it was not for the sympathetic young actors. Some scenes struck me as particularly clichéd; namely, the wedding gig (yeah, right) and the big finale (seriously, who didn't guess right away what the climax would be?). The brief saxophone jam scene was hilarious though, precisely because it was cut so short with perfect comic timing.Regarding Nordic peers of Malmros' film, an obvious comparison can be made to one of my favourite Finnish movies Pitkä kuuma kesä (1999), although TK focuses on girls instead of guys and stays more clean-cut with much less alcohol use and bad language. Anyway, all things considered, Tjenare kungen is definitely an entertaining, fun and even delightful little movie, easily worth a look especially by fans of the music and fashion of the 1980s.

Danele It is 1984 and Abra is 19 years old and tired of the small village she lives in. However, events take her to the big town Gothenburg and adventures. The movie is charming and the characters sympathetic. For us who where teenagers in the mid 80's the movie is a journey back in time. All the groupings are there; punk-rockers, synthers, hard-rockers... and the soundtrack contains lots of representative music. The actors are all new faces in Swedish film and make a terrific job. Malmros has as always succeeded well with direction and camera. This is a true feel-good movie.Trivia: At the premiere in Gothenburg, the director Ulf Malmros was knocked down by a man who thought he had stood model for the nasty barman in the movie.

Peaks If you are familiar with Ulf Malmros' previous works, you know that a stylish movie about music and set in the 80s, is just up his alley. Malmros is without doubt Sweden's best director when it comes to using music to create mood. For Tjenare Kungen, he has been given an historically big budget to buy tunes for. The result is - of course - as good as anyone could have hoped. With everything from Alphaville to Thåström, Tjenare Kungen swiftly transfers us back to 1984. The entire movie is in fact an orgy in everything that made the 80s so special (?). A lot of time has been put into little - but oh so important - details like clothes and hair-cuts.As with Smala Sussie, Ulf Malmros has once again found a bunch of very talented debutants. Josefin Neldén (Abra) and Cecilia Wallin (Millan) are both extremely believable and lovable as the two girls forming a punk band. When you leave the theatre, it is impossible not to have a little crush on Abra.Tjenare Kungen is not ground-breaking in any way. It is a simple story that follows a formula proved to be good. It is not as heart-warmening as Den bästa sommaren, and the dialogue isn't as quirky and hilarious as in Smala Sussie. However, when you leave the theatre, you do it with a big smile on your lips. Knowing that you have just had one of your best cinematic moments this year.

Ahmaghad The plot is simple; Abra lives in a small town not to far away of Gothenburg. She has a punk band and her dream is to release a single and become famous. The band splits up after a member of the bands boyfriend abuses Abra. On a concert in her village she meets Millan a stage re-arranger (roddare). After an unfortunate event she escapes with the band and lies about that she really lives in Gothenburg. But in some miraculous way they believe in her. She lies about some other things and gets to live with Millan. They start a band together and their goal is to release a single before Christmas. The year is 1984 The movie has a great soundtrack with old Punk songs. And the camera shots are amazing. One thing that I really hated about the movie was that the movie is as Swedish as a Swedish movie can be.When something is supposed to be sexy and in sex scenes we always see one of the woman's breast and the movie has a sugar sweet ending Malmros has done a great movie but a bit to Swedish and a too simple plot.