Lilya 4-Ever (2002)

Sixteen-year-old Lilja and her only friend, the young boy Volodja, live in Estonia, fantasizing about a better life. One day, Lilja falls in love with Andrej, who is going to Sweden, and invites Lilja to come along and start a new life.

Director:

Lukas Moodysson

Writer:

Lukas Moodysson

Stars:

Oksana Akinshina, Artyom Bogucharskiy, Pavel Ponomaryov

12 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Oksana Akinshina	...	Lilja (as Oksana Akinsjina)
Artyom Bogucharskiy	...	Volodya (as Artiom Bogutjarskij)
Lyubov Agapova	...	Lilja's Mother (as Ljubov Agapova)
Liliya Shinkaryova	...	Aunt Anna (as Lilija Sjinkarjova)
Elina Benenson	...	Natasha
Pavel Ponomaryov	...	Andrei (as Pavel Ponomarjov)
Tomasz Neuman	...	Witek (as Tomas Neumann)
Anastasiya Bedredinova	...	Neighbor (as Anastasia Bedredinova)
Tõnu Kark	...	Sergei
Nikolai Bentsler	...	Natasha's Boyfriend (as Nikolaj Bentsler)
Aleksander Dorosjkevitch	...	Friend #1 (as Aleksandr Dorosjkevitj)
Yevgeni Gurov	...	Friend #2 (as Jevgenij Gurov)
Aleksandr Sokolenko	...	Friend #3
Margo Kostelina	...	Cashier #1
Veronika Kovtun	...	Cashier #2

Storyline

While waiting for her mothers reply to take her to the USA, Lilya idles the time away smoking, drinking and having fun with her, too, outcast friend Volodya. In time, the chance of a new life becomes non-existent; her life is going nowhere. Meeting a young man, she then finds a plane ticket in her hand and a new life in Sweden: a job, an apartment and prospects. All is not what it seems. There shall be work, there shall be housing and there shall be no escape. This is the stark, frank and disturbing vision of the life of a young victim of the underground sex trade and in all its tone of realism of abject poverty, despicable actions and of wanting to show that dreaming of a better life is not a crime but that life can shatter the illusion of a happy ending.

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Plot Keywords:

sex trade | teenage prostitution | human trafficking | sexual abuse | poverty | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Country:

Sweden Denmark

Language:

Russian Swedish English Polish

Release Date:

23 August 2002 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Lilya 4-Ever

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$33,731, 20 April 2003

Gross USA:

$184,023

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,007,747

Company Credits

Production Co:

Memfis Film, Det Danske Filminstitut, Film i Väst

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Oksana Akinshina and director Lukas Moodysson had to communicate through an interpreter because Oksana spoke neither English nor Swedish at the time.

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Quotes

Teacher: A golden future awaits you. Just kidding.

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Connections

Referenced in Filmselskabet: Episode #4.1 (2013)

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Soundtracks

Bomba
Written by Konstantin Meladze (as K. Meladze)
Performed by VIA Gra (as Via Gra)
With permission from Sony Music Entertainment (RUS)

User Reviews

language and set

some people complain about the Russian being too simple an unrealistic in the dialogue. i'm really happy that it is, because i had no subtitles and if they had spoken faster and using slang, then i wouldn't have understood anything. and the cool thing is that all the labels in the shops and other signs are in my mother tongue, in estonian. and the blue money that she uses(100 crowns=£4) is ours too. and you remember the enormous building where volodja slept, the one that reminded a submarine on the inside, the one they called the pentagon. well, unfortunately it is no more, it was torn down this summer. or at least most of it. pity.

the film made me ache all over. it is the real life. the gap between the rich and the poor is unbelievably wide here.