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Lilja 4-ever

2002

Lukas Moodysson

Oksana Akinshina, Artiom Bogucharskij, Pavel Ponomarev, Elina Beninson, Ljubov Agapova

7.5

12,096

Drama Sixteen-year-old Lilya lives in a poor and dreary suburb somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Her mother has moved to the States with a new man and Lilya is waiting to be sent for. When no letters or money arrive from her mother, it becomes obvious that Lilya has been abandoned. She is forced to move into a tiny, run-down flat with no electricity or heating. Heartbroken and with no money, Lilya's situation becomes desperate. Her only ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Stephen Holden The New York Times	"Great, heartbreaking (...) For all its explictness, 'Lilya 4-Ever' never feels exploitative."	POS
United Kingdom	Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"A vivisectional experiment in horror and despair (...) A grown master's mature masterpiece (...) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United Kingdom	Michael Hayden Empire	"'Lilya 4-Ever' is undeniably depressing, but its bravery, commitment and depth mark its brilliance (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United Kingdom	Lee Marshall Screendaily	"While it makes for strong and mostly compelling material, it lacks not only the humour but also some of the subtlety and perceptiveness of the director's first two outings."	NEU
United States	Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times	"'Lilya 4-Ever' provides a human face for a story that has become familiar in the newspaper (...) has the directness and clarity of a documentary, but allows itself touches of tenderness and grief (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Ty Burr Boston Globe	"[Moodysson] dives into the soul of a 16-year-old Estonian girl and tears you apart."	POS
United States	Andrew Sarris The New York Observer	"What 'Lilja 4-Ever' has in common with the greatest films is its spiritual transcendence. Don't miss it."	POS
United States	Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"Lukas Moodysson, a young Swedish director, crafts a stunner of a film out of familiar turf."	POS
United States	James Berardinelli ReelViews	"One of the least happy films I have seen in a while, but also one of the most memorable and moving. (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly	"A haunting and incandescent work of art."	POS
United States	J. Hoberman Village Voice	"Show Me Love and Together were a bit sentimental for my taste; the brutally overdetermined Lilya demonstrates that [Moodysson] can go to the other extreme."	NEU
United Kingdom	Tom Dawson BBC	"Moodysson has an impressive ability to show the world from the perspective of children, and to elicit naturalistic performances from his youthful actors (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Gunnar Rehlin Variety	"A hard-hitting, dark and tragic story that rarely lets up."	POS

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