While waiting for her mothers reply to take her to the USA, Lilya idles the time away smoking, drinking and having fun with her, too, outcast friend Volodya. In time, the chance of a new life becomes non-existent; her life is going nowhere. Meeting a young man, she then finds a plane ticket in her hand and a new life in Sweden: a job, an apartment and prospects. All is not what it seems.
There shall be work, there shall be housing and there shall be no escape. This is the stark, frank and disturbing vision of the life of a young victim of the underground sex trade and in all its tone of realism of abject poverty, despicable actions and of wanting to show that dreaming of a better life is not a crime but that life can shatter the illusion of a happy ending.
Lilja 4-ever is a 2002 Swedish-Danish drama film which was released to cinemas in Sweden on 23 August 2002, directed by Lukas Moodysson. Lilja 4-ever is a story of the downward spiral of Lilja, played by Oksana Akinshina, a girl in the former Soviet Union whose mother abandons her to move to the United States.
The story is loosely based on the true case of Danguolė Rasalaitė, and examines the issue of human trafficking and sexual slavery. The film received positive reviews both in Sweden and abroad. It won five Guldbagge Awards including Best Film, as well as was nominated for Best Film and Best Actress at the European Film Awards.
As Moodysson recalls, filming took “something like 40 days” to finish in total.[8] Outdoor scenes set in the former Soviet Union were shot in Paldiski, Estonia, a former nuclear submarine training centre for the Soviet Navy. Swedish exteriors were filmed in Malmö and studio scenes in Trollhättan. Interpreters had to be present for the Russian actors to be able to understand Moodysson, who in turn had to direct based on emotional impression from the actors’ intonation rather than the words.
When the lines didn’t sound well he would ask the actors to drop the script and improvise. One of the interpreters was Alexandra Dahlström, the star from Moodysson’s debut feature Show Me Love. Dahlström, whose mother is of Russian descent, also served as assistant director, which the producers held as an advantage since she was the same age as the title character.
Director of photography was Ulf Brantås, who started his career as a cinematographer for Roy Andersson and had filmed both of Moodysson’s previous feature films. Lilya 4-ever was shot with an Aaton XTR Prod on 16mm film which was later transferred to 35mm. Minimum lighting was used, mainly from practicals and whenever possible only sunlight.
Locations were only sparsely rigged by the crew. A custom built rickshaw, made from the wheels of a mountain bike, was used for the long rearward-facing tracking shots. No correction filters were used though the stock was eventually graded in post-production in order to appear slightly warmer.
Lilya 4 Ever – Lilja 4 Ever (2003)
Directed by: Lukas Moodysson
Starring: Oksana Akinshina, Artyom Bogucharsky, Lybulov Agapova, Liliya Shinkaryova, Elina Benenson, Pavel Ponomaryov, Anastasiya Bedredinova, Yevgeni Gurov
Screenplay by: Lukas Moodysson
Cinematography by: Ulf Brantas
Film Editing by: Michal Leszczylowski, Oleg Morgunov, Bernhard Winkler
Costume Design: Denise Östholm
Art Direction by: Josefin Åsberg
Makeup Department: Jessica Cederholm, Kristina Olsson
Music by: Nathan Larson
Ristributed by: Newmarket Films
Release Date: August 23, 2002 (Sweden), September 27, 2002 (Denmark), April 18, 2003 (United States)
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