Forum of Independents review - GUERRILLA by Anders Hazelius

Rebels without a cause. A modern day non conformist romance, Guerrilla by Anders Hazelius had its international premiere in the Forum of Independents competition of the 50th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

When two soulS are lost, lonely, angry and confused, the best thing they can do is find each other, get together and do or make something, whether it is make a movie, start a revolution or just fall in love - or all three and more. That is the key driving force behind Guerrilla, an exciting Swedish romantic comedy drama by Anders Hazelius about a male named Adam and a female named Lara. 

The two have very almost completely opposite personalities, and with their nature defy the conventionality of the sexes. Adam is a vulnerable man who, despite his good nature and love for his daughter and former partner, struggles to abide to the responsibilities of adulthood. Lara, on the other hand, fights society with a vengeance as a feminist activist, committing politically motivated acts of vandalism and forcefully preaching her creed to passer bys. One of these is Adam, who is instantly fascinated by her. So much so in fact, that he offers his services as her assistant for a documentary she is filming. This allows the two to bond and despite their initial clash, give into their attraction for one another. 

There is a pulsating energy that drives Guerrilla. Its story talks of frustrations with doing what you are supposed to do, and its style conveys that with a wild handheld cinematography, jagged editing and an infectuously exciting pace. On top of that, its balance of tenderness and rebelliousness is incrediblY genuine, as well as its mixture of drama with a refreshing sense of humour.

Adam Palsson and Siri Hjorton Wagner star as Adam and Lara, and like paladins of non-conventionality are descendants of the emotions felt in the David Bowie penned song All the Young Dudes (either side of it, the bullies and the bullied) and stark romanticism of DH Lawrence - of which a scene in which the two casually explore each other's bodies is innocently representational. In the context of creating a film that is not particularly like the vast majority of romantic movies with young lead characters, the film's leads actually do not necessarily resemble the usual leads of such movies - neither physically nor with their personalities. They are very real, and as such not everything about it is there to be liked, serving the tastes of an audience who wants to escape the realism of the dark sides of humanity. 

In this sense, their individual domestic background also paints them as being a little selfish. But in the end, it's hard not to side with them, because it is a tale as old as time itself, or at least as old as Shakespeare's star crossed lovers, that our lenience in narratives always sides with a fulfillment of a final goal of true love. The fact that this is true of Guerrilla shows that Hazelius was successful in making it so by mixing a riveting style with a profoud sensibility towards humanity.