Review of Lilya 4 Ever

Introduction

I should have reviewed Lilya 4-Ever a while ago, but after sitting through A Hole In My Heart I wasn`t really in the mood for any more Lukas Moodysson films. Time to bite the bullet.

Lilya (Oksana Akinshina) grew up somewhere in the former Soviet Union. She`s 16, she doesn`t have much money, and nothing ever happens where she lives. A familiar story to many teenagers around the world. Her mother meets a new man and is invited to go and live in America. This excites Lilya massively, until the day of the move. She learns that she will not go there, and must wait. Will she ever leave her 2 bit town? She teams up with another street kid, and starts hanging out in clubs, meeting men and earning some money. Another man comes along and promises her a new life in Sweden. Does paradise really await this time?

This DVD was released as part of the Lukas Moodysson Film Collection containing Together, Show Me Love, A Hole In My Heart and Lilya 4-Ever.

Video

A very good 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer, and much better than you might expect from some European indie film-maker. The muted colour scheme is intentionally bleak apart from the odd brigher clubbing scenes, and the overall bleak, gritty style is backed up by some patches of intentional film grain.

Audio

A choice of DD2.0 stereo and DD5.1 Russian soundtracks. Both tracks are reasonable, but the DD5.1 soundtrack shades it, due largely to the extra channels being much better used for the music. There`s not much audio excitement here, as you might expect from a gritty Eastern Europe-set drama. Dialogue is clear and crisp, although you`ll need the subtitles since it`s not in English.

Features

A few little extras find their way on to this DVD.

The first is a rather substantial interview with Lukas Moodysson, recorded by The Guardian in London. This goes on for about an hour and a half, covering topics all around his career, inspiration, and film-making methods. Very interesting for fans.

Next we have trailers for Lilya 4-Ever and Together.

Finally we have 2 charity promotional films. The UNICEF film "More Precious than Gold", narrated by Robbie Williams, was shown throughout the day during Robbie Willams` Knebworth concerts in August 2003. The Amnesty International Appeal promotional video is more unsettling, and contains disturbing images, such as you`ll often see on the news or on TV documentaries.

Conclusion

Lilya 4-Ever is a more worthwhile film than A Hole In My Heart, and does feature an excellent performance from Oksana Akinshina, but it`s all a bit obvious to most. You should be well aware of the sorts of things that go on in this film if you`ve watched the news any time in the last 15 years or so. If not then this film might highlight some of these issues, but you`d do better to watch a documentary on it for a more factual take on matters.

Moodysson`s way is to continually batter your mind with more and more imagery (a la A Hole In My Heart), so you`re left with the feeling of being bashed over the head with this stuff just once too often. There are flaws in the story too. Too many times you`re sitting there thinking "why not just do this". Perhaps not sharing the director`s religious viewpoint hinders your view of this film.

Others have declared this a work of genius, but it just didn`t work for me. The DVD itself is a good effort, and fans of Moodysson will probably snap up the box set of these films. I won`t be rushing back to watch it again.