Lilja 4-ever (2002)

Director:

Lukas Moodysson

Writer:

Lukas Moodysson (writer)

Release Date:

23 August 2002 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Lilja is 16 years old. Her only friend is the young boy Volodja. They live in Estonia, fantasizing about a better life. One day, Lilja falls in love with Andrej. He is going to Sweden, and invites Lilja to come along and start a new life.

Plot Keywords:

Bumper Car | Woman Trafficking | Post Soviet Russia | Child Abandonment | Isolation

Awards:

12 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Oksana Akinshina	...	Lilja
Artyom Bogucharsky	...	Volodya
Lyubov Agapova	...	Lilja's Mother
Liliya Shinkaryova	...	Aunt Anna
Elina Benenson	...	Natasha
Pavel Ponomaryov	...	Andrei
Tomasz Neuman	...	Witek (as Tomas Neumann)
Anastasiya Bedredinova	...	Neighbor
Tõnu Kark	...	Sergei
Nikolai Bentsler	...	Natasha's Boyfriend
Aleksander Dorosjkevitch	...	Friend #1
Yevgeni Gurov	...	Friend #2 (as Jevgeni Gurov)
Aleksandr Sokolenko	...	Friend #3
Margo Kostelina	...	Cashier #1
Veronika Kovtun	...	Cashier #2

Also Known As:

Lilja 4ever (Sweden) (alternative spelling)
Lilya 4-ever (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexual content, a rape scene, drug use and language.

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

Sweden | Denmark

Language:

Russian | Swedish | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | Malaysia:(Banned) | Hungary:16 | Iceland:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Australia:MA | Canada:18A | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:III | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Film i Väst, Nohab Industrial Estate, Trollhättan, Västra Götalands län, Sweden

Company:

Memfis Film

Trivia:

Based primarily on the real life of Dangoule Rasalaite, who ended up in Sweden after her mother took off and went to America. The film follows the events of Dangoule's life pretty closely, with the main exception of the boy Volodja who is entirely fictional.

Quotes:

Lilja: Do you want to buy anything?
Woman at yard sale: There's nothing to buy here!

Movie Connections:

References Tillsammans (2000)

Soundtrack:

Wanna Be With Me?

Angels

Director Lukas Moodysson has achieved a film that is so moving that it is hard to forget it after leaving the theater. Images come back into one's mind about this story about this girl. The tragedy of her life is something to be shocked and alarmed.

To think there are out there, in the so-called civilized world, people that take advantage of girls like Lilja is mind boggling. Lilja's mother has to be one of the worst monsters ever presented in a film. This woman abandons her 16 year old daughter because she has found a meal ticket with a man that will probably end up leaving her as well.

Lilja is beautifully portrayed by Oksana Akinshina. The actress and her character disappear in front of your eyes. The story is very true as thousands of naive girls are exported from what it was the old Soviet Union to other countries in order to force them into prostitution. This story is constantly in the news, yet more and more young girls are duped into going abroad with the promise of highly paid jobs that exist only for the people who exploit them.

Her only friend is Volodya, also a very sad boy who is thrown out of his own house by an abusive father. Volodya and Lilja form a bond as they cling to one another. The little boy is street wise; he knows the fate that awaits Lilja in Sweden. Their friendship is the only thing they both have.

The sad part of the film is the realization that so called "normal" and perfectly "respectful" people are the same ones that brutalize these children. They use Lilja to satisfy their sexual appetites, then discard her like yesterday's trash. To know that there are people like that in our society is a very sad commentary about our world.

Contrary to what many people have commented about the film, I thought that in spite of the tragedy of Lilja's and Volodya's lives, it had a very positive ending because both are free to run around in a better place together, which is not a luxury most of us have on our time in this planet.

Mr. Moodysson gives us a film that will shock; he dares to go where others wouldn't. A job well done..