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

The money shown in the movie is the currency of Estonia (100 crown bills).

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Quotes

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

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Connections

Referenced in Filmselskabet: Episode #4.1 (2013)

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Soundtracks

Ne Obizhai Menya
Written by Arseniy Shulgin (as A. Shulgin)
Performed by Valeriya
With permission from Familia Publishing Ltd/Familia Entertainment Ltd

User Reviews

catch 22

As one, who grew up in communism and still lives in Eastern Europe, I find the movie as real as it gets. It's very general and yet very accurate. The events shown in this movie actually happened and happen in every town from the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea. Lilja is my neighbor, too.

I am a guy who had no tear in his eyes for years. But last night, when I saw the movie, I cried like a baby. It felt like killing those people with my own bare hands.

I could never watch porn again.

Catch22 used to be my favorite book. Now I start hating it.