Mila and Kia, the protagonists of Swedish football drama Forever, are best friends who dream of becoming professional footballers but must first navigate the perils of teendom. Boys, parents and the arrival of a new hard-line coach at their club combine to test the resolve of a lifelong bond. Jessika Jankert’s script hardly treads new narrative ground; teen movie tropes are plentiful and sports film beats are dependably hit. Thankfully a welcome authenticity is supplied by Flutra Cela’s fervent performance as Mila and by the film’s engaging football sequences. Cela is clearly a talented footballer, obviously a prerequisite during casting given the amount of realistic on-pitch action we see. Director Anders Hazelius and his editors throw in plenty of slo-mo to eke out the spectacle.
Such cinematic affectations, when combined with narrative conventionality, might have given Forever the feel of a TV film, a mode more in Hazelius’ wheelhouse (prior to Forever his CV exclusively comprised small-screen projects). But Hazelius and his aesthetics graduate from television to cinema by means of a certain attention to detail, particularly when it comes to the directing of actors; pivotal junctures in the film’s central friendship – like when a public dressing room spat sees hidden resentments finally aired – are performed with striking emotion.
The filmmakers inject social commentary at various points, most pointedly when financially hard-up Mila, wearing taped-together football boots, grows jealous of Kia’s relative affluence. Sexism inevitably manifests itself as the boys’ team is given preferential treatment. That the girls eventually come out on top coincides with the recent rise of women’s football, an ascent that is, perhaps surprisingly, yet to yield an explosion of new screen dramas. Depending on the reach of Forever, I wouldn’t be surprised to see an English-language version transpire eventually given the sport’s popularity in the UK and America. For now, this Scandi archetype will satisfy those seeking contemporary on-screen representations of the women’s game, however rudimentary. ◘
Celluloid Soccer 