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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I Urge You to See This Movie, December 27, 2006
Certain films evoke moods within us. We all have a favorite film, a film we enjoy for various reasons. We might find it entertaining, funny, or just cool. Then there's that film we can't categorize. A film that gives us a strange feeling in the pit of our stomach, a movie that leaves us stricken. This could be attributed to the subject matter of the film or, more specifically, how that subject matter is handled. Maybe it contains something you longed for or long for, something you can relate to (no matter how metaphorically), or maybe it has to do with the way you connect with the characters on a deep emotional level...Or maybe it's just something that happens to me. Few films have done to me, after a first viewing, what "Lilya 4-Ever" has done. The only the movies that have left me with that same feeling (off the top of my head) are "Thirteen" and "All the Real Girls." The former because it reminded me of those crazy events in adolescence and the latter because I could relate to those feelings one goes through during that period of "young love." None of those films, however, left me with a feeling this intense. Nothing that happens in "Lilya 4-Ever" has happened to me. But even writing this review, I still have that strange feeling in my stomach and I still find myself dwelling on parts of the film. The beautiful Oksana Akinshina plays Lilya, a 16-year-old girl, who opens the film on the verge of jumping off a highway overpass. It's clear that it's not going to be a happy movie. Backtracking, we meet Lilya as she tells everyone that she's moving to America. Her mother has met and fallen in love with a Russian man, who is taking them all with him to America. Lilya sees it as a chance to escape from the gloomy suburb of the former Soviet Union in which she lives. Then, her mother drops a bombshell. Lilya will stay there, while she and her boyfriend go to America...Later, they will send for her. As soon as her mother is gone, things go downhill for Lilya. She is evicted from the flat she shared with her mother and moved to a much dirtier, rundown one she hates immediately. Lilya seems to have only one friend, but once her friend convinces people that Lilya is a prostitute, Lilya severs ties with her. The only friend Lilya is left with is the 14 year old Volodya. Volodya is in love with Lilya and serves her as a guardian angel of sorts, protecting (or, at least, trying to protect) her from all the evils of the world. He's only 14, but much more perceptive than Lilya and clearly harbors feelings for her that she doesn't understand. Pretty soon, finding herself without money, Lilya turns to prostitution to make some. When she meets a nice man named Andrei, who offers her the chance to get a job and a flat in Sweden, she gives up prostitution and decides to go with him. Volodya sees there's something not right with the situation and warns her not to go. I haven't read any of the other reviews on Amazon, but I have no doubt that other reviewers have revealed what happens to Lilya once she reaches Sweden. Roger Ebert did in his review. Having said that, I won't say what happens. It makes the blow much more devastating. The feeling I mentioned that was evoked during my viewing, I had experienced with the movies I mentioned above. Those movies I wanted to see again, right away. This movie, I'm debating whether I want to see it again or not. This is, without a doubt, one of the most depressing films I've ever seen. I have never cried during a film (I came close once with "Million Dollar Baby"), but this film almost made me do it. Oddly enough, most viewers won't like it. Some might even find it stupid. This film just has some effect on me, one which I can't truly explain. The reason for this feeling might lie inside the character of Volodya. For Volodya, Lilya is the girl of his dreams. Everyone has felt this at some point. Few people have actually lived alone with this girl and slept next to her, however...Certainly not at his age. For him, she's everything and yet, he can't keep her or have her to himself. She's untouchable. To Lilya, Volodya is a friend whom she loves...In the end, Volodya is her everything. This is a great film that remains largely unmentioned in film circles. It's depressing, has a gloomy atmosphere to it, and is making me want to cry. So, needless to say, it's not the kind of movie one whips out on a Friday night to watch with the family. We all have favorite movies. Movies that entertain us, make us laugh, make us quote the dialogue...This one will keep your eyes glued to the screen, but can hardly be called entertainment. If you're laughing at this film, you might need to see a doctor and make sure you have a heart and a soul. There's no dialogue that's worth quoting. But whether you love, hate, can't explain how you feel about this film (much like me), or all of the above...You'll remember Lilya forever. GRADE: A
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It might just change your life, June 11, 2004
The first time I saw this movie, I think I cried about it for days.And everyone I showed it to walked around like total zombies after having seen it. Because it is so real, and raw, and unflinchingly honest in showing the lives of such miserable, misfortunate people.And most of these people are no older than sixteen.And while this may come as no surprise to you that there are people like this living in the world(I thought so myself), actually seeing it has the capacity to change your whole life.When a film can do that,you know its got to be pretty damn powerful. Lilja(Oksana Akinshina) is a sixteen year old girl who lives with her mom in a desolate little town somewhere in Russia.When Lilja's mom tells her that her new boyfriend is taking them both to live in America, Lilja is absolutely electrified with hope and joy at something better. But things don't go exactly as planned and what follows is a wrenching,impossibly bleak, and absolutely devastating film which is simply impossible to look away from.Along the way, Lilja meets an eleven year old boy(the absolutely, wrenchingly irresistible Artyom Bugacharski).This boy has a destiny just as bad as Lilja's, if not even worse.He sells glue on the streets, and sleeps in the winter cold outside because his own father beats him out of the house. When I say this film is bleak, I mean just that-there is not one bright spot, not one shred of hope expressed throughout.And still, even though you know that everything will just break in the end, you know that there is no future for these kids, you cannot help but sit on the edge of your seat and grip your sweaty palms together in hope that things will work out.By the time the film ended I was too busy spinnning in an apocalyptic whirlwind of hope and anticipation to even feel anything. But once those credits began to roll, boy, did I cry. I didn't just shed a tear or two, I absolutely wept and wept and wept. I wept because this film is so bleak and hopeless and real-and you realize when seeing this, and I mean truly realize, not read it in the paper realize how many kids there are with fates like this and even worse. I swear that YOU will feel ashamed for every day you ever complained about the trials in your life. This is the type of movie that should be required viewing in schools-there are so many kids that just need to be woken up from their perfect slumber to see what deep misery lies in this world. And the greatest thing about this movie is that it doesn't ever try to shock.It doesn't move you through grotesque images and gruesome,graphic sights. And you have to give many props to director Lukas Moodysson for being able to create such a real film without resorting to shock value. I'm not saying that there aren't many difficult scenes, but he never resorts to shock over story, and that really does raise this film up to another level.And, being shot in handheld camera(I;m not a film pro, but I'm guessing) really does give the film a grainy, unpolished sort of quality so that its almost documentary line. All the kids in this film were amazing-their acting was so good, that the characters on screen were frighteningly real human beings-not only victims. This is an absolute emotional wipe out of a film.And not because it is sentimental or because it has the greatest dialogue in the world. Because it is so stunningly real-and sometimes reality can be the hardest thing to stomach.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Intill This Movie Is Released In The U.S. And Selling At Amazon, Go To Netflix And Rent It!, October 10, 2005
A movie you can't "Love", that's not why I gave it 5 stars, but it is a very important movie for all to see. Lukas Moodysson has cemented himself as one of the great young directors in Europe with this dark, extremely depressing, yet very important film. After watching Lilya's life unfold into what can only be described as "literally" hell on earth (Even worse then hell on earth), You will never forget her pain, her face (and in so, the millions of faceless children & adults who are enslaved in the underground sex industry that Lilya's character represents). At least that's the little bit of hope that I got from the story, which is filled with everything except hope. You will be mentally drained and mad as hell at the human race when this movie is over, but to me that's great movie making. A very, very, important movie!
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