Misfits to Yuppies

About the movie

This documentary is the third in a trilogy about a group of Swedish nonconformists. The first documentary was shot in 1967, and followed a bunch of rebellious youths around. These kids had nothing but contempt for those who fit into the society around them, and they were experimenting with drugs, and partying pretty heavily. In particular, it tells the stories of two young men, Kenta and Stoffe. Then, in 1979, the documentarian returns to cover the two men's lives, and the lives of their friends. What had been a friendly, cheerful bunch is now deeply involved in petty crime and drug use. Indeed, one of the two men followed in the earlier film (Stoffe) dies of a drug overdose during the filming of the documentary. The filmmaker returned in the early '90s, to see what has become of Stoffe's family, his friends, and Kenta and his family and friends. Stoffe's wife refused to meet with the filmmaker, but indicated that his son had been adopted, and has become a mechanic, living in the countryside. Kenta remained a "rebel," and remains proud of that fact, but his children studied hard and are on the verge of more conventional success.—g.c.