Lilya 4 Ever
A film by Lucas Moodyson
Lilya 4 ever is a tragic, hard-hitting story about a teenager trapped into a life of prostitution. Lilya is a 16 year old who lives with her mother in an apartment. Her mother moves to the United states with her boyfriend leaving Lilya alone in care of her aunt. Her cruel aunt sends her to an old rugged apartment and occupies Lilya apartment. Lilya chums up with a small boy who is thrown out of his house by his father. They both live together sharing a little happiness with dreams over a better life.
As Lilya has no other choice to make up her daily bread she decides to spread her legs in the town and earn. A guy called Andrei befriends her stating that he is gonna find her a job in Sweden and sends her to Sweden. It is too late when Lilya realizes that she has been sold to a pimp in Sweden. He takes her out every night to customers and earns money. Later he bring her back to an apartment and locks her up. After one such night the guy forgets to lock the door and Lilya escapes and jumps from a bridge and dies.
Lilya 4 ever is loosely based on the life of Danguole Rasalaite, a 16-year-old girl from Lithuania whose case had made headlines in Sweden in 2000. The director who has also scripted this affecting piece of cinema requires a special applause for the treatment of such a subject with sheer poignancy. When you watch the film it will make you feel that in the near distance girls like Lilya are struggling with a life that is worth nothing. The cinematography of the film needs a special mention as it captivates the dark mood of the film. The lead character Lilya (Oksana Akinshina) has done a wonderful job with her debut performance. The film has its lighter surrealistic depiction of Lilya’s dead friend who talks to her as an angel from heaven soothing her at hard times. This picture will bring us shades of comparison to Lars Von Trier’s BREAKING WAVES and DANCER IN THE DARK.
For realistic cinema lovers this film is a must watch.
Awards
Lilya 4 Ever won several awards from film festivals around the world including Best Film at Gijón International Film Festival. Akinshina won the awards for Best Actress both in Gijón and at Rouen Nordic Film Festival. Ulf Brantås was prized for Best Cinematography at Zimbabwe International Film Festival and Moodysson won the award for Best Director at Brasilia International Film Festival.
The film was the big winner at the 2003 Guldbagge Awards where it received prizes for Best Film, Best Direction, Best Screenplay, Akinshina as Best Actress and Best Cinematography. Bogucharsky was also nominated for Best Actor.It was nominated for Best Film and Best Actress at the European Film Awards At the Chlotrudis Awards 2004, an annual event held in Massachusetts with the aim to "honor and support independent and foreign films", it was nominated for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Actor, but failed to win in any category. It was Sweden's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Filmat the 75th Academy Awards, which sparked some controversy when the Academy considered to deem it ineligible since the primary language is not Swedish. Eventually it was accepted, but failed to be nominated. In November 2009 the film magazine FLM published a list of the 10 best Swedish films of the decade as voted by 26 of the country's leading critics. Lilya 4 Ever appeared as number three on the list, surpassed only by Involuntary and Songs from the Second Floor.
By ARUN KARTHICK
