They Call Us Misfits
Encyclopedia
They Call Us Misfits is a 1968
Swedish
documentary film
directed, produced and written by Stefan Jarl
and Jan Lindqvist. The film is an uncompromising account of the life of two alienated teenagers, Kenneth "Kenta" Gustafsson
(1948-2003) and Gustav "Stoffe" Svensson (1950-1978). The film, like its successor Ett anständigt liv (1979; "A Decent Life") takes a close but non-moralizing look at the joys and growing pains of mod and 'junkie' street culture in Stockholm
at the time.
. Later we see them walking around at the subway station T-Centralen
in Stockholm. They meet friends and go around begging people for food, beer and cigarettes. The workers who are passing by get ridiculed by Kenta and Stoffe.
Another friend of the guys, Jojje, talks about how alcohol will destroy them in time. But that he doesn't worry much about it right now. The filmmakers have fixed a small apartment for Kenta and Stoffe which is a big difference for the guys who previously slept outdoors or at others. Kenta and Stoffe talk about their childhood. Stoffe's father drank himself broke and died in hospital. Kenta's father tried to strangle him with a tie. But Stoffe also remembers that he thought it was fun to play at home when he was little. We see the two guys go to "4:an", a club for young people. Stoffe likes to be with many girls, but tells Eva, who he sleeps with, that he wants her for himself. Kenta and Stoffe make a musical performance, where they play a song by The Zombies
.
It is now winter and a trip to Hedemora in Dalarna undertaken in the company of Hasse. They plan to visit Stoffe's childhood friend Ingmar. On the train they drink beer, smoke pot and make jokes. The mood is high. But they can't stay in Hedemora, the difference from Stockholm is too big, because Stoffe thinks nothing happens in Hedemora.
In Stockholm there is Peter, who earns 400 kronor
a day by selling drugs, and Lunkan who got hepatitis from an infected hypodermic syringe. It's summer and Kenta and Stoffe are not working and have nowhere to live. Their friendship is being worn down. Kenta doesn't think Stoffe is a good friend anymore. Not since he started seeing Eva. One night the guys split up. Kenta goes into a, and lays himself down, opens up a beer and starts reading a cartoon magazine. The same night Stoffe gets taken care of by the police.
1968 in film
The year 1968 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 30 - The film The Lion in Winter, starring Katharine Hepburn, debuts.* November 1 - The MPAA's film rating system is introduced.-Top grossing films :- Awards :...
Swedish
Cinema of Sweden
Swedish cinema is known as producing many critically acclaimed movies, and during the 20th century was the most prominent of Scandinavia. This is largely due to the popularity and prominence of the directors Ingmar Bergman, Victor Sjöström, and more recently Lasse Hallström and Lukas...
documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
directed, produced and written by Stefan Jarl
Stefan Jarl
Stefan Jarl is a Swedish film director best known for his documentaries. He made the Mods Trilogy, three films which follow a group of alienated people in Stockholm from the 1960s to the 1990s, They Call Us Misfits , A Respectable Life and Det sociala arvet...
and Jan Lindqvist. The film is an uncompromising account of the life of two alienated teenagers, Kenneth "Kenta" Gustafsson
Kenta (musician)
Kenneth "Kenta" Gustafsson, , was a Swedish musician.Gustafsson was born in Nacka, Sweden. He grew up in Vällingby, a suburb northwest of Stockholm. Early in his life Kenta had problems with alcohol and drug addictions, which was the subject for the three documentaries by Stefan Jarl known as The...
(1948-2003) and Gustav "Stoffe" Svensson (1950-1978). The film, like its successor Ett anständigt liv (1979; "A Decent Life") takes a close but non-moralizing look at the joys and growing pains of mod and 'junkie' street culture in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
at the time.
Synopsis
The film begins with an interview with Tompa, a friend of Kenta and Stoffe. He tells how he grew up in orphanages and juvenile prisons. He says that freedom hardly exists for him. But one thing is he sure of, the time he spent with Kenta and Stoffe and the other mods were the most enjoyable time of his life. The interview cuts to Kenta and Stoffe running through the streets of Stockholm filmed with a fisheye lensFisheye lens
In photography, a fisheye lens is a wide-angle lens that takes in a broad, panoramic and hemispherical image. Originally developed for use in meteorology to study cloud formation and called "whole-sky lenses", fisheye lenses quickly became popular in general photography for their unique, distorted...
. Later we see them walking around at the subway station T-Centralen
T-Centralen
T-Centralen is a metro station that forms the heart of the Stockholm Metro system, in the sense that it is the only station where all three of the system's lines meet...
in Stockholm. They meet friends and go around begging people for food, beer and cigarettes. The workers who are passing by get ridiculed by Kenta and Stoffe.
Another friend of the guys, Jojje, talks about how alcohol will destroy them in time. But that he doesn't worry much about it right now. The filmmakers have fixed a small apartment for Kenta and Stoffe which is a big difference for the guys who previously slept outdoors or at others. Kenta and Stoffe talk about their childhood. Stoffe's father drank himself broke and died in hospital. Kenta's father tried to strangle him with a tie. But Stoffe also remembers that he thought it was fun to play at home when he was little. We see the two guys go to "4:an", a club for young people. Stoffe likes to be with many girls, but tells Eva, who he sleeps with, that he wants her for himself. Kenta and Stoffe make a musical performance, where they play a song by The Zombies
The Zombies
The Zombies are an English rock band, formed in 1961 in St Albans and led by Rod Argent, on piano and keyboards, and vocalist Colin Blunstone. The group scored a UK and US hit in 1964 with "She's Not There"...
.
It is now winter and a trip to Hedemora in Dalarna undertaken in the company of Hasse. They plan to visit Stoffe's childhood friend Ingmar. On the train they drink beer, smoke pot and make jokes. The mood is high. But they can't stay in Hedemora, the difference from Stockholm is too big, because Stoffe thinks nothing happens in Hedemora.
In Stockholm there is Peter, who earns 400 kronor
Swedish krona
The krona has been the currency of Sweden since 1873. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it, but especially in the past, it sometimes preceded the value...
a day by selling drugs, and Lunkan who got hepatitis from an infected hypodermic syringe. It's summer and Kenta and Stoffe are not working and have nowhere to live. Their friendship is being worn down. Kenta doesn't think Stoffe is a good friend anymore. Not since he started seeing Eva. One night the guys split up. Kenta goes into a, and lays himself down, opens up a beer and starts reading a cartoon magazine. The same night Stoffe gets taken care of by the police.
Music
- "Leave Me Be" by Chris WhiteChris White (musician)Chris White was the bass guitarist and songwriter with the 60s British Invasion band The Zombies.Although born in Barnet, Hertfordshire, he was brought up in Markyate where his parents owned a village shop...
- "Den glade bagarn i San Remo" by Evert TaubeEvert TaubeEvert Axel Taube was a Swedish author, artist, composer and singer. He is best known for his folk songs, and is widely regarded as one of Sweden's most respected musicians.-Biography:...
- "Dom kallar oss mods" by Lea Riders Group