Lilya 4-ever

2003
7.8| 1h49m| R| en| More Info
Released: 18 April 2003 Released
Producted By: Zentropa Entertainments
Country: Sweden
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Lilja lives in poverty and dreams of a better life. Her mother moves to the United States and abandons her to her aunt, who neglects her. Lilja hangs out with her friends, Natasha and Volodya, who is suicidal. Desperate for money, she starts working as a prostitute, and later meets Andrei. He offers her a good job in Sweden, but when Lilja arrives her life quickly enters a downward spiral.

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Reviews

Karry Best movie of this year hands down!
Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.
Evengyny Thanks for the memories!
Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
Morten_5 When "Lilya 4-ever" premiered in Sweden 15 years ago, it shattered many hearts and gave fire to a debate on human trafficking that would last for years. I finally watched Moodysson's amazing film and it broke my heart too.Twitter: @7thArtShortRevs (Mårten Larsson).
Vikingbyheart Lilja 4-ever is a hard film to watch because it shows the raw and naked reality of the world. There is no superhero to save you. The viewer is sure that the world is cruel and inhabited by disgusting men and women. It is portrayed as in the conversation between Rocky and his son in the movie Rocky Balboa (2006): "The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life".The writer and director is the Swedish Lukas Moodysson, from F*cking Åmål (Show me Love - 1998) and Tillsammans (Together - 2000). The story chronicles the life of a 16 years old Lilja (Oksana Akinshina), who lives with her mother (Lyubov Agapova) in a poor and dreary suburb somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Lilja is beautiful, rebellious, unexpectedly devout, kneeling always before her favorite photo of an angel with a child, and above all, she is naive. She and her mother would emigrate to the United States with her mother's new husband, but her dreams of a better life crumbles when she finds out that she will be left behind, under the guardianship of her aunt (Lilija Sjinkarjova), to eventually join them later. As the time passes by and she doesn't receive letters or money, there is a feeling that she was abandoned. With no help from her aunt, she is forced to move into a tiny apartment without electricity or heating. Desperate, she receives aid from Volodya (Artyom Bogucharsky), a boy of only 11 years old, her only friend. Disillusioned and broke, the girl meets and falls in love with Andrei (Pavel Ponomarjov), who offers her employment and a chance of a better life in Sweden.The work of the cameras was made in such a way that even not seeing some scenes we feel and suffer all the hardships aside with the protagonist. Using only the suggestion (the implicit feature that was given) the director reached and impacted the viewer more than if he had used explicit images. We identify ourselves in such a way with the central character that we want to warn her of the dangers in every step she takes towards her ruin. Oksana Akinshina, in the leading role, and Artyom Bogucharsky, in the supporting role, give us an interpretation worthy of take the hat off.The soundtrack was chosen to intensify the emotions conveyed in the film. It is responsible for giving voice to the characters at different times, expressing the feelings of joy, disappointment, grief, sadness, emptiness, anger, hatred and despair. The song of the German band Rammstein "Mein Herz Brennt" (My heart burns), which opens and practically closes the film, causes a strong initial impact, but it's heard with other ears and emotions at the end.Apart the denunciation of the tragedy that accompanied the lives of millions of people who have been abandoned to a bitter and inhuman life with the end of socialism and the break up of the USSR, in what children are the most vulnerable victims, there is also a criticism about individualism and loss of social values. The state of men without civil society is nothing else but mere war of all against all...Originally posted in: http://vikingbyheart.blogspot.com.br
Jack Hawkins (Hawkensian) 'Lilya 4-Ever' is hugely bleak. You shake your head as Lilya (Oksana Akinshina) is manipulated and abused. I read somewhere that this film is 'torture porn', nonsense, despite the sleazy, damning impression it leaves on you, it's a very tastefully made film. It's unremittingly depressing, but always tasteful.It's somewhat one-track in its storytelling; almost everyone is callous, abusive and indifferent about Lilya's well-being, none more so than her mother, who deserts her, initiating Lilya's dive into veritable squalor. I can understand how these people are going to be embittered by their tough, filthy neighbourhood, but some of the characters' cruelty and selfishness border on evil. Her only friend is Volodya (Artyom Bogucharsky), a young admirer of hers who is always thinking in her best interest. The young pair give terrifically natural performances, which help achieve the film's aura of hyperrealism.Much like films such as 'Import/Export', the camera captures the striking, achromatic landscapes of Eastern European housing projects. The scale of its anaemic bleakness that is visually arresting.The total deprivation in this film makes one appreciative of not only family and friends but basic commodities too. Lilya is thrown into a world of abject poverty, where the living conditions are so desperate that we see her attempting to sell her few, worthless possessions on a street corner. Lilya and Volodya frequently talk about a better life, but they're both so tragically far away from their fantasies. Inevitably, she discovers that prostitution is the most lucrative way of assuring she has the resources to be able to live and maybe even achieve her dreams.Throughout the film, I wanted to reach into the screen and cradle the sweet little Oksana Akinshina, attacking anyone who wanted to exploit her for whatever disgusting purpose. The film puts an innocent, sympathetic face on prostitution, an industry that's unfairly maligned and condemned by society. In fact, the film puts an innocent, sympathetic face on the underclass; its candid hyperrealism gives you a vivid portrait of total and utter destitution, helping you understand and empathise with their lamentable lives. www.hawkensian.com
olympiquetango Loud music. A girl running. Tears in her eyes and despair. And blood on her young face. Hectic shots give you the feeling of panic, misery. The drama. Rammstein is singing "Mein Herz brennt". Lilja is done. Motorway bridge. Jump or not? The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of this movie is compassion. Lilja 4-ever captivated me. Made me sad, angry, made me feel helpless and weak. During this story that seems to be a passion I felt like screaming "no, don't do it. Be careful"… in vain. You won't find respite. You start to understand. This story will cover you in a cape of darkness. The days of light are over. But before we see if Lilja jumps or not Lukas Moodyssons takes us to the time and place where the breakup starts. The story is plain, clear and without a shadow of a doubt a forcefully narrated melodrama but still drawn through with a different kind of seriousness. Almost oneiric told, it reminds you sometimes of the movies of Robert Bressons with which it shares the same religious subtexts. Moodyssons name was put on the map with his blitheful sensitive movies "Fucking Åmål" and "Tilsammen". Already in these movies the director proved himself as someone with a grasp for leading young actors and showing their juvenile interior view, the only ones he takes serious in his movies. The adult world seems like a nightmare. From the very beginning you can see a foreshadowing in Liljas 15 year old face. Lilja. This Russian girl in the Ukraine. Where once the Sovjet Union was powerful now ruins assign the landscape. The promised land is called US of A. Lilja's mother also wants a re-start. And when she gets the chance to, she even leaves her only child behind. Lilja is left in a world where homo homini lupus est. Moodyssons always manages to make a connection to the western world. Shows us, we are somehow responsible for the situation Lilja is stuck in without losing the focus on the girl and us feeling sorry for her. Most haunting here is Lilja's hunger for happiness, her childish hoping and an angelesque innocence. And nevertheless she is lost: She loses her home, tries drugs, grows lonely, sinks into poverty, gets betrayed multiple times and ends up as an illegal prostitute in Sweden. She tried to be away from all that so hard though. In one scene we see her throwing away a certain amount of "dirty" money she got from a "friend" although she needs it so much. A typical Moodyssons scene. He is in love with his characters and in this case also in their agony… The only friend Lilja has is an unloved little boy. And he is the only one who tries to save her in his own way. But the tragedy recaps. Like her mother left her, Lilja leaves her friend, who commits suicide. The actress who plays Lilja- Oksana Akinshina- does an awesome job. Lilja appears smart and real. Stylistically Lilja 4 ever is narrated fast and straight-lined. What starts like a Popmovie gets more and more penurious and concentrated. The main focus is on Lilja. Every now and then the camera deepens in her face. The is music like the roller-coaster of emotions the viewer is in; from Vivaldi to t.a.T.u. to Alphaville to Rammstein… Lilja is escaping more and more into a dreamworld. At the end we see all the right decisions that have not been made in this life. And then Lilja is done, standing on a bridge. "Mein Herz brennt"