Lilya 4ever

Lukas Moodysson, Denmark/Sweden, 2002, 109 minutes

Swedish director Lukas Moodysson has always produced films about those outside social norms. In his first film Show Me Love(or Fucking Amal, to those Swedes amongst you) we were given an inspired twist on the teen film as the love story between a geeky outsider and the popular kid was retold with a lesbian twist. This was followed by Together, the story of the people living in a commune in 70s Stockholm. In Lilya 4-ever Moodysson takes us on by far his darkest outing.

The film tells the story of Lilya, a girl growing up in the poorest conditions in Russia. A relationship of her mother’s opens up the promise of a new life in America to Lilya, away from the poverty and drugs around her. However as this glint of hope is cruelly snatched away we see Lilya forming a bond with younger Volodya and the two of them seek happiness in the depths of this despair. As Lilya meets a man who offers her a new life we begin to wonder if Lilya is truly destined to have another chance at escape.

The film is beautifully made and emotionally gripping; it is also a harrowing but worthy story with an important message of awareness about a largely unreported social problem. The film is in no way glitzy and is made to look as gritty and real as a documentary, whilst its spirit is actually emphasized by a score which seems to have found a way to give credibility to TaTu and Rammstein.

Lilya 4-ever is certainly not the slickest film made and even Moodysson has been critical of his filmmaking, but this neither lessens the importance of the plot nor the impact of its message. This film demonstrates that not only can cinema entertain but carry a message so important that discussion of the acting and editing seem trivial.

Review by Pete Thompson
Written for EUFS Programme Autumn 2004