codyw1 wrote:Anyone know if Rebecka and Alexandra are still friends, by the way?
A perennial question.
The answer, very sadly, has been the same for years: They are not, and very probably have never been. (There was a time when I knew every interview Rebecka and Alexandra ever gave by heart. I do not any more, so I can't give you the sources for what I say here just now, but if you want to know absolutely, I could look it up.) If you look at what the two said, even back in 1998/1999, that really leaves no question: In a 1998 interview that was conducted with each of the two separately, both clearly stated that they did not hung out together privately and that they were not close friends. Both referred to the age difference between them as a reason for this. In a 1999 chat with fans, Rebecka answered the same question again with a very clear "No". And, apart from wishful thinking, this is what one would expect. They were 14 and 17 at the time that Fucking Åmål was shot. This tends to be forgotten, since there is just a one-year difference between their characters in the film, and furthermore, it's rather Alexandra who looks older on screen. In fact, she was three years younger than Rebecka (who was alreday living on her own then) and, in a way, really a kid. Three years is like ages in that age, as we all know.
The really interesting question is: If the answer is that clear (which, I'm afraid, it is), why does the question pop up again and again?
I think there are two reaons:
First, if you read the interviews the two gave at the very beginning of their success, both Rebecka and Alexandra somehow toyed around with the idea of meshing their film characters and their real lives. For example, they declared that they couldn't rule out that they were bisexual and, above all, that they had liked kissing each other. The result of this, of course, seems to have been a lot of sensationalist speculation in the media. The result obviously were more and more questions about their private relationship. You can witness this, for example, on the recording of the Berlin 1999 press conference. Rebecka later referred to the questions at that conference especially as "creepy". (Which isn't altogether fair, I must say, because the girls had really fuelled this kind of question with their interviews.) Maybe that was the reason why, after approximately one year (in later 1999), they changed their policy. They now stressed that they had liked working with each other, but that they were in the first place colleagues, not personal friends, let alone lovers. Later that year Rebecka (in that chat with fans) answered to the ever-same question how it was to kiss Alexandra: “Did I like it... No I didn't especially like it...I am not in love with Alexandra and it's never fun to kiss someone that you aren't in love with but it wasn't so harmful”. But maybe it was already too late then.
The second, and more obvious reason is: We just want it to be the case, in a way. It is just an ingredient of the sheer magic of Fucking Åmål that we cannot believe that this is JUST A MOVIE. Because it doesn't feel like one. It's like Morgan Miller in his wonderful review of the film said in 2000: "
Having viewed the film three times on the big screen, I must confess that "Fucking Amal/Show Me Love" has a life all its own. Liljeberg and Dahlstrom give performances that are not only super realistic, but also genuine. Upon leaving the theater each time, I find it absolutely impossible to believe that Agnes and Elin are fictional characters that do not exist. It's a heartbreaking thought and I just refuse to believe it." And so do we. We yearn for the thought that it's not just over any time the credits start to roll. Unfortunately, reality is no consolation here. We have to face it...