There’s a certain charm about a first-time filmmaker’s debut.
Moreover, there’s a charm to movies about first-time filmmakers, usually showing the humorous divide between their technical gifts (or lack thereof) and their indefatigable spirit to tell their story- their wild ambitions exceeding actual capabilities. To this point, the worse – or, less “professional” those characters’ movies end up being (think Tommy Wiseau’s The Room or Kyle Mooney’s underseen Brigsby Bear), the more endearing these stories tend to be for the audience. The light-hearted Swedish comedy Amateurs (Amatörer) enters this storytelling space, showing rebellious youngsters who don’t let talent get in the way of telling their story.
Upon hearing news of a German superstore considering moving their business into the sleepy Swedish town of Alafors – which would inevitably provide a big boost to their local economy – the city council looks for ways to attract the conglomerate, but on a shoe-string budget. It’s the spirited Musse (Fredrik Dahl) who thinks of sourcing local students to create a welcome video of the city, an idea that is taken on by rebellious best friends Aida (Zahraa Aldoujaili) and Dana (Yara Aliadotter). They use their phone cameras and selfie sticks to explore the city and capture the magically mundane moments, including interviews with the hard-working locals who make up the city.
…[Amateurs] shows the special quality of a community and city that sometimes can only be captured by kids.
What makes Amateurs more than just a light-hearted comedy about first-time filmmakers is that it uses this set up to investigate current day economic themes that are part of the anxieties of globalization. Aida and Dana interviewing both local leather tanners as well as low-income shoppers about what it would be like if the megastore were to move in – all captured in hand-held and shaky home-video style footage – gives an innocence to their curiosity but gives the films a documentary-like blend that offers some unexpectedly profound insight. And seeing the two best friends having to acknowledge the divide in their own personal economic upbringings furthers their own understanding of their place in the economy and life at large.
Amateurs is good for easy viewing, though it suffers a bit from its own “amateur” quality.T here are a few moments in the film that truly stand out, like when a simple string arrangement accompanies why adding dish soap to fountains are always a good idea even if it’s against the law – shows the special quality of a community and city that sometimes can only be captured by kids.
102 min. Amateurs (Amatörer) is not yet rated.
