Human traffic (Lilya 4 Ever (DVD))

Member Name: Fairydustbitch

Product:	Lilya 4 Ever (DVD)
Date:	04/02/06 (241 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very well acted, good story

Disadvantages: Silly ending, makes disturbing viewing

“Lilja 4-Ever” is the harrowing tale of a teenage girl living in poverty somewhere in Russia. Make no mistakes, it’s a harsh, painful and uncompromising film that has considerable flaws, but is still one that everybody should see.

We open with a flash-forward scene. A bloody and beaten girl is running down a street, trying to get away from someone or something. She is dirty and clearly terrified. How did it come to be like this?

We flash back to many months earlier, and Lilja is a sixteen year girl living in a slummy neighbourhood. Her mother tells her her new boyfriend is taking her to America, and she will send for Lilja soon. Lilja accurately guesses that her mother plans to abandon her and she tries to convince her to stay, to no avail. Left to her own devices and moved into a disgusting flat by her wicked witch of an aunt, Lilja turns to Volodya; an eleven year old boy, and himself an outcast, for company. They sniff glue and dream of a life lived somewhere else. Soon Lilja realises she’s running out of money, her aunt tells her she has nothing to give her and Lilja realises she’s going to have to turn to the worlds oldest profession to survive; an idea given to her by her traitorous “best friend“. She then meets a lovely young man who seems like her escape, but of course, this is no fairy story and he is not all he seems. Left to his own devices, Volodya sinks into depression with harrowing results.

The beautiful, then 15-year-old Oksana Akinshina is perfect as Lilja, a girl who desperately wants to place her trust in someone. It is this trait that proves to be her downfall. Akinshina’s portrayal of Lilja is sensitive, brilliant and precocious, defying her age. Her performance is never over the top, which is a common feature of such young performers, and you cannot help but feel for her. We see her terror as she is sitting on the train that takes her into the city so she can sell her body to some heartless creature, and her increasing despondency with her situation, interspersed with rare moments of hope; right up until the chilling climax, that let us know she hasn’t given up yet. Artyom Bogucharsky is equally sensitive and brilliant, his portrayal of Volodya, an abused and outcast little boy will break your heart. The supporting roles of Lilja’s mother and the men who seek only to harm her are suitably chilling, heartless and cruel. Its hard to imagine a life lived in such poverty that you would be willing to leave your little girl to turn to prostitution in order to survive, so you could live a richer life elsewhere, and we see Lilja’s mother’s regret at leaving her daughter alone, not that that makes us feel sympathy for her.

Moodysson’s film has gained him much notoriety, the issues the film tackles are thrown in your face relentlessly. it’s a classic realist approach, and reminds me somewhat of Larry Clark’s “Kids“, in that Moodysson does not offer any sort of solution for the horrors that are unfolding on our screens, and it takes an unrelentingly realist look at things. Despite his harsh portrayal of a bleak and uncaring world, little moments and flashes of hope occur throughout the film, lifting it ever so slightly out of its blackened pit. An opening shot of a seagull flying in front of a factory belching chemical smoke into the air is beautiful reminiscent of Volodya’s and Lilja’s undying but ever fading hopes, and Volodya’s surprise reappearance later in the film casts a dim light over an otherwise black film. Aside from these brief flashes of light, “Lilja” is much darker in tone than any of Moodysson’s other work and it makes extremely difficult viewing. It’s a truly heartbreaking tragedy that will leave you feeling completely heartbroken, but not without hope.

In this the film is successful. Like “Kids” its documentary-style feel and unflinching and shaky camera work leave little of the principal character’s torment to the imagination. Unlike “Kids” it is not nearly as explicit, most of the violent and sexual scenes are left to our imagination, which of course is the mark of a truly chilling film, because what we don’t see scares us. Also unlike “Kids” its actually a good movie, unfortunately there is a lot letting it down and stopping it being an excellent movie.

One of the main problems with this film is the ending. Obviously I can’t give this away, but lets just say it contradicts the entire film and much of the dialogue. It feels jarring and wrong, as if it was just tacked on out of nowhere. Its also quite patronising and insulting to the audience. If the last scene had been cut out of the film and it had been finished the way I think everyone had expected it to, it would have been a much, much better film. I understand that one of the principal issues in the film, that of undying hope, has to be dealt with in the conclusion but it is done in a clunky fashion that lets down the rest of the movie.

Another problem with the film is the dialogue. It may well be something to do a lot of the real dialogue getting lost in translation, as the film is subtitled, but the dialogue feels totally unreal and forced. These kids do not talk like kids should, its all just forced and farcical.

One of the other problems with this film is its forced sense of being an “issue” movie. Its an indie, low budget arty foreign film for poncy arty farty people to go and see and then debate its issues for a while and then forget that there are girls all over Europe and beyond living Lilja’s hellish life every day. We have an escape…we watch the movie, we feel terrible for poor Lilja and then we move on and forget about her and get wrapped up in the next indie low budget arty foreign film. True, this is more the audience’s fault that Moodysson’s, but it doesn’t change the fact. I wonder if; now that Moodysson has brought the horror of human trafficking to our screens, he sleeps warm and safe in his bed at night knowing he’s done his bit and can move on to the next hot topic.

I’m now going to contradict my last point by stating that “Lilja 4-Ever” is a film that everyone reading this review, in fact everyone everywhere, should see. While not perfect it is nonetheless a very good film and it brings up issues that should not be swept under the carpet or brought up and then dismissed once dinner is over.

All in all, it’s a worthwhile and chilling movie to watch, probably one of the most disturbing movies I've ever watched, but ultimately the movie is about the endurance of people in the face of formidable odds, the ending (even though it sucks) shows us that hope lives on, providing us with a little light in a dark world. It leaves you feeling slightly emotionally battered but not without hope.

Summary: A modern day "little matchstick girl"