God Save the King is a lively and energetic drama that recreates the punk scene in the early ‘80s.  

It focuses on the trials and tribulations of an all-female band, presumably named in tribute to the Sex Pistols classic, “God Save the Queen”. 

The film was made in Sweden, and it will be shown at the Gene Siskel Center as part of the European Film Festival on Monday, March 19 at 6 pm and Wednesday, March 21 at 8:15 pm. 

The soundtrack is packed with new wave classics such as Blondie’s “Hanging on the Telephone” and the Vapors’ “Turning Japanese,” but not a lot of true punk songs. There is also an interesting number by Joakin Thastrom, lead singer of the Swedish band, Ebba Gron. 

The film isn’t particularly original but the great use of music and the freshness of the performances help keep it afloat. Josefin Nelden is particularly impressive as the confused but passionate Abra. 

Abra is a 19-year-old punk who lives in a narrow minded, parochial small town in Sweden in 1984.  She’s the only punk fan there, and she constantly gets abused by everyone—including her sister.   Her sister’s boyfriend keeps repeating the mantra that Abra needs a man, but all she cares about is music. At one point, a villager even knocks her down and shaves off her Mohawk. 

Abra decides to get away from the philistines, and she hitches a ride with a band to a bigger city, Gothenberg. On the tour bus, she immediately strikes up a friendship with Millan, who loves punk even more than Abra. The two rapidly become best friends and move in together. They form a pact that neither one will get a boyfriend before they record. Of course they both violate the agreement, and the two women later vie for the attention of the same man. 

Abra and Millan decide to form a band, but most of the people that show up to audition are all wrong (they all play in non-punk genres.) They settle on the business savvy Gloria (Johanna Stromberg), and Isa (Malin Morgan), who looks like she could be a member of A Flock of Seagulls or The Thompson Twins. 

The group runs into many snags along the way such as music personalities that demand sex for gigs, and audiences that don’t want to hear punk anymore. 

The story’s pretty predictable.  What ultimately makes the film convincing is that the director, Ulf Malmros grew up in the new wave/punk era and he obviously has an eye for period detail. 

God Save the King effectively took me back to an earlier era, and it had me rooting for the band’s success. Any one who hung around with a band in the 80’s should be able to relate to it