Lilja 4-ever

[Pencey]

Heard about this film and just finished watching it.

Now I can honestly say this is the most depressing and moving film I think I've ever seen. I had to watch it in three viewings because it was seriously having an effect on my mental state. If you saw Irreversible and thought it was hard to watch, then you won't be able to survive this. I guarantee you will take out the DVD before the movie is halfway through.

Lilja 4-ever is a very good film which is why I kept watching but it is deeply disturbing and not a movie you want to see again. Once will probably be enough for anybody.

I still advise those of you who like films that move you, even if it's in a negative way, to check this title out. You'll probably be glad you did.

P.S.-- The Swedish director of this film is Lukas Moodysson who also directed F***ing Amal, another very good film worth Netflixing.

[billythrilly7]

Is it in English?

[Pencey]

Is it in English?

Swedish, Russian, and English.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0300140/

[jeffkantoku]

I loved Show Me Love aka F***ing Amal. I thought it was one of the best love stories I'd seen.

I'd really like to see more of Moodyson's work. Have you seen any of his other films?

[billythrilly7]

Lilja is 16 years old. Her only friend is the young boy Volodja. They live in Russia, fantasizing about a better life. One day, Lilja falls in love with Andrej. He is going to Sweden, and invites Lilja to come along and start a new life.

She is hot.

And the storyline reminds me of "Career Opportunites."

I may just check this one out.

[whitenavel]

I've been looking for this for months and have even posted threads on it. Pencey, did you see it on Netflix? That's the only place I could find it to view. But I don't have Netflix so I'm waiting for it to be available on DVD to buy. But it's not available. I found some on Amazon and Ebay, but they are not North American DVDs or the Non USA format.

Still looking for Lilya and Ken Park to buy on DVD.

I'm not really sure why they are not available to buy in the US.

[Pencey]

I've been looking for this for months and have even posted threads on it. Pencey, did you see it on Netflix? That's the only place I could find it to view. But I don't have Netflix so I'm waiting for it to be available on DVD to buy. But it's not available. I found some on Amazon and Ebay, but they are not North American DVDs or the Non USA format.

Still looking for Lilya and Ken Park to buy on DVD.

I'm not really sure why they are not available to buy in the US.

Yeah, got it from Netflix. I've been looking for Ken Park too but it's not out yet in the U.S.

[Captain Jack Sparrow]

It's a good film, but it's no Rochelle Rochelle.

[le kilt]

I saw it about six months ago. Yes, it's good, and, yes, it's depressing. One of its unique points is the sense of disgust I felt during and after. It's not a film to make you feel proud about humanity, or about being male. Aside from Lilya's young boy companion, the men are all unappealing in the extreme. But then her girlfriend, mother, and grandmother are awful too, so it's not just a man-bashing piece.

For anybody yet to watch something by Moodysson, I think SHOW ME LOVE is the one to see first, and the most remarkable of the three movies of his I've seen; it has a really fresh quality.

TOGETHER is the lightest of the bunch, and reminded me a bit of some of Mike Leigh's more comedic work.

On the topic of depressing and moving films, have you seen THE MAGDALENE SISTERS yet, Pencey? I preferred it to LILYA, maybe because the sense of injustice and anger was directed at a particular institution ie the Catholic Church, and at a specific target, the laundry houses run by that particular group of Irish nuns. I also felt it gave a chilling insight into mind-control methods. Plus, the Mother Superior who ran the joint was a terrific character study, in a career best performance from Geraldine McKeowan (sp?). So there wasn't that sense of sweeping condemnation you got in LILYA. Which also meant, I guess, I wasn't having any fingers pointed at me, as an adult male living in a relatively wealthy and stable country. Though I don't think that was what bothered me about it. With the Moodysson one there was a strong sense of fatalism that made it all extra depressing imo.

[whitenavel]

Magdalene Sisters was an excellent film from Peter Mullen. Very depressing, but good.
That's available here in the states, to rent AND BUY. I just don't see why Lilya is available to rent through Netflix but not available for sale?
Seems like it would be smart to get the film out there for everyone to see it that wants to without having to sign up for Netflix.

[le kilt]

white, I know it's of no help to you, but fyi they released a dvd box set of Moodysson's four features over here. The most recent release (can't remember its title) got poor reviews, and was some kind of experimental exploration of pornography.

Have you seen Mullan's debut feature, ORPHANS? It's a very different work from MAGDALENE SISTERS, dark, but imo an exhilirating ride, and very funny in places. The Scots accents are pretty strong (maybe they were *toned down* for the US, can't say), but there are some amazing visual set pieces, and I think dudes like you, Insanity, Rand etc might really dig it.

[whitenavel]

That most recent flick was A Hole in my Heart and I don't think it ever got distribution here. I seem to recall it being at Toronto in 2004 and received some really awful reviews. Needless to say, it's also not available on DVD here.
I've honestly never seen Fvcking Amal. Nor have I seen Orphans. I will look into them. Thanks for the info.

By the way, is Ken Park available over there?

[le kilt]

By the way, is Ken Park available over there?

a preliminary search has revealed nada, but then I have to admit I'm no super sleuth at this kinda stuff.

/passes the buck.

[Pencey]

I saw it about six months ago. Yes, it's good, and, yes, it's depressing. One of its unique points is the sense of disgust I felt during and after. It's not a film to make you feel proud about humanity, or about being male. Aside from Lilya's young boy companion, the men are all unappealing in the extreme. But then her girlfriend, mother, and grandmother are awful too, so it's not just a man-bashing piece.

For anybody yet to watch something by Moodysson, I think SHOW ME LOVE is the one to see first, and the most remarkable of the three movies of his I've seen; it has a really fresh quality.

TOGETHER is the lightest of the bunch, and reminded me a bit of some of Mike Leigh's more comedic work.

On the topic of depressing and moving films, have you seen THE MAGDALENE SISTERS yet, Pencey? I preferred it to LILYA, maybe because the sense of injustice and anger was directed at a particular institution ie the Catholic Church, and at a specific target, the laundry houses run by that particular group of Irish nuns. I also felt it gave a chilling insight into mind-control methods. Plus, the Mother Superior who ran the joint was a terrific character study, in a career best performance from Geraldine McKeowan (sp?). So there wasn't that sense of sweeping condemnation you got in LILYA. Which also meant, I guess, I wasn't having any fingers pointed at me, as an adult male living in a relatively wealthy and stable country. Though I don't think that was what bothered me about it. With the Moodysson one there was a strong sense of fatalism that made it all extra depressing imo.

I agree that Show Me Love (AKA...Fvcking Amal) is the one to see first. I thought it was the greatest film about teenagers since The Breakfast Club, maybe better. Just the way Moodysson films it gives it that documentary feeling, as if you're a friend of these kids, just hanging around observing their lives.

What you should know beforehand is that the movie is actually a lesbian love story before anything else...but suprisingly anyone can relate to it. I saw myself at that age in at least 2 different characters.

BTW, the film was so popular in Sweden, it took in more money than Titanic did over there. It was that popular--one of those films mentioned at the water cooler that everyone was told to see.

[Pencey]

On the topic of depressing and moving films, have you seen THE MAGDALENE SISTERS yet, Pencey?

I just Netflixed this so I'll let you know what I think once I watch it. It has a super high score on IMDB for a film of this kind so I'm curious to check it out.


With the Moodysson one there was a strong sense of fatalism that made it all extra depressing imo.

Yes! Fatalism...I got that same feeling. It felt like Lilya's choices didn't matter...like someone else was in control of her life. I just happened to be watching this as I was dealing with some depressing issues of my own...which of course made it all the worse. Like I said, I had to watch this in 3 different viewings, and frankly I don't want to see it again any time soon, no matter how good a film it was.

Billy, I think you and Navel were gonna check out Lilya. If so, what did you think? Did you hide the razor blades like you were told to?

[le kilt]

Like I said, I had to watch this in 3 different viewings

Yeah, I also took a break, rather than watching it all in one go.

Whenever I think of the movie now, I get that thundering Royksopp track in my head, the one that uses Zep's "Kashmir" riff. Using that kind of music is a statement in itself by Moodysson.

Glad to hear you're checking out THE MAGDALENE SISTERS. It's tough viewing too, emotionally, but somehow not as crippling as LILYA is, imo.

[Pencey]

IMDB has a nice little write up on Lilya today on it's main page.

Whitenavel, apparently the DVD is only available to buy in Region 2 format. So if you don't live in Europe, you can't fuggin' play it in your American DVD player.

But you can Netflix it which I suggest you do.

[whitenavel]

A friend got it through Netflix and burned me a copy. Still waiting for it.

Still waiting for Ken Park to come out on DVD too, dammit!!!

[tomasz1985]

A hole in my heart has recieved awful reviews here in Sweden, haven´t seen it though, I don´t like the concept. Lilja 4-ever is a great movie, it´s indeed very painful to watch and is one of those movies that stay in your mind a long time.

[whitenavel]

Finally saw Lilya. Depressing, heart breaking, a hard watch. I loved it.

[Pencey]

Finally saw Lilya. Depressing, heart breaking, a hard watch. I loved it.

Glad you enjoyed it. Tell me, did you get the feeling of fatalism when watching it? Did it seem to you like Lilya's fate was predetermined?

[whitenavel]

I felt like her fate was predetermined, especially after learning of her mother's past.
But I hoped things would turn around for her and she would have a positive life.
Heartbreaking.