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BY LARRY CARROLL |
Imagine the horror of having your mother abandon you at age sixteen,
leaving you with
no love, no money, and nothing to eat. Imagine that all the kids at school
hate you, that they throw rocks at you and yell names because of how poor
you are. Imagine that you live in a financially repressed area of the world
that offers little hope of making your situation any better. Now, imagine
that this is only where your story begins - that these are actually the
best times of the rest of your life - and you'll have some idea of what
it's like to be Lilya.
Lilya 4-Ever is a bleak, blistering, beautiful treasure of a
film that presents wasted life in all its horrific vividness. Fueled
by the phenomenal performance of 15-year-old actress Oksana Akinshina,
the movie's relentlessly depressing tone is certainly not date movie
material - but those brave enough to be bummed out will find a great
reward waiting for them.
Swedish director Lukas Moodysson (Together) takes his story from
a segment of society rarely portrayed - the working poor of the former
Soviet Union - and tells it with such unflinching realism that you'd
swear it was a documentary. You can only thank God that it isn't real
and say a prayer for girls out there like Lilya (Akinshina), who we meet
while her mother is leaving for a better life in America with a boyfriend.
The mother promises her daughter that she will be sent for once things
in the U.S. are set up, and at first Lilya acts as though she doesn't
care about her mother's departure. By the time Mom gets in the car, however,
the young girl runs out of their apartment building and pleads with her
not to leave, collapsing in the mud as her car pulls away.
Lilya's worst fears are true, naturally. Her Mom (Lyubov Akinshina)
has no intention of sending for her, or even talking to her ever again.
Lilya, an unwanted child since birth, is swiftly kicked out of her flat
and forced to live in a dilapidated tenement building with no telephone,
heat, or electricity. She gradually descends into a life of prostitution,
dressing herself up to look older and heading into the city in a ritualistic,
heartbreaking series of scenes.
The only tiny ray of sunshine in Lilya's life is her friendship with
Volodya (Artyom Bogucharsky), a similarly hopeless young boy who has
also been rejected by his family and schoolmates. Volodya has a crush
on Lilya, but the two-year difference in age makes him a child in her
eyes. Together, the two cower in her apartment, sharing food, cuddling
for warmth, and sniffing glue for the occasional escape. He has the lofty
dream of someday owning a basketball, something which, to him, seems
as unattainable as a mansion or yacht. In heaven, Volodya believes, he
will have his own basketball and be able to play all the time.
On one of Lilya's trips into the city, she meets a handsome businessman
named Andrei (Pavel Ponomaryov). During the next several weeks the two
seem to fall in love, a godsend since he seems to offer all the things
- an apartment, a car, money, love - that she so desperately longs for.
Is this man really her knight in shining armor, or does he have some
chinks that she cannot see?
I'm not going to tell you what follows, but just suffice it to say that
this is a very, very bleak movie. I'm talking Gummo bleak. I'm
talking Leaving Las Vegas bleak. I'm talking watch-a-Mike-Leigh-film-to-cheer-you-up-afterwards
bleak. What it really boils down to is a contest between our two heroes
and suicide itself. How far would life have to push them down before
they finally give in to the thoughts of ending themselves?
Lilya 4-Ever has the guts to explore the ways that the world
can snuff out a person's light. It's about lost innocence and so much
more - the nature of dependence, the abandonment of conscience in a crumbling
society, the solemnity of desperation - and is presented with just enough
dream sequences and moments of levity to keep the film from feeling like
a force-feeding.
This is in large part due to the director, of course, but the most important
decision he made was undoubtedly the casting of Akinshina. It is mind-boggling
to consider the themes which this young actress was asked to tackle,
and carry by herself (she's in virtually every scene), in only her second
movie. She stays defiant and strong in some scenes, breaks down crying
in others, and carries some kind of great emotional heft in virtually
every scene. Look no further than the first time Lilya sells her body
- the actress carries the demeanor of a sexy adult while snaring the
man, then goes frigid when it's time to perform, then is emotionally
absent during the act, and finally ends up running from the apartment,
tearing off any vestige of adulthood on her before she grabs hold of
a wall and vomits from disgust. This is powerful stuff for an actress
of any age. This movie should make some smart American directors track
down her agent's phone number real fast, with the hope that she knows
some English. Akinshina is an actress to watch, no matter what language
she's speaking.
The 12-year-old Bogucharsky also does a fine bit of acting, but it is
weakened since most of the problems with Lilya 4-Ever emanate
from his story. When the kid finally does get his basketball, only to
have his father cut it open with a knife, it will break your heart. But
whereas the Lilya character is all about nuance, hidden emotion and subtlety,
Volodya often comes across as Tiny Tim minus the cane. Towards the end,
his character takes on a supernatural element that at best is annoyingly
literal and, at worst, threatens to turn the whole movie into an ad for
a new children's store from the makers of Victoria's Secret. Most of
Moodysson's oppressive-tone-relief choices are good ones, but not the
goofy direction he takes this character in.
The director's style is like the film itself - simple, honest and brutal.
A good twenty minutes or so could probably be trimmed, but when you're
watching a character living in hell, repetition can be allowed for the
sake of empathy. You might go into Lilya 4-Ever thinking it would
be difficult to identify with the story of a teenage Russian prostitute.
But somehow, by the end of it all, you'll know what it's like to be this
sad little girl.
GRADE: B+ |
