Pluskylang Great Film overall

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

ivusal-84083 From the beginning to the end, the film which blows drama wind that is more tough during the end, glamorously beautiful, the film which has a soundtrack ("Mein Hertz Brennt"), in my opinion, completed absolutely to the movie, especially to the last scene and the most important, the film which is not the mainstream movie like recommended by a "friend"

Suman Shakya Most of the time the films stand for an escape from the real life truths and sees world through rose colored spectacles. But in this film, the things are opposite. The film exposes the surreal truths of life and is very sad and disturbing. Right the moment the film begins, the story delves into the ruthless situations our 16 year old protagonist is exposed to. The film shows the anguishes of a sixteen year old girl full of zeal, who is cheated through fate and is a victim of the cruelty of the real world. The character and the situations created in the film look so real that you are filled with a feeling of disgust and agony; which is the real power of this film. The film has many unlovable and disturbing moments and will linger in your mind for days to come. So if you're anticipating a film to uplift your moods, this is not the one you ought to go for. But concerning a good film exposing the real picture of a society, this one you should definitely watch.Rating: 2 stars out of 4

netra-sharma8 Just after I saw the movie, I went to bed to get some sleep, but the entire movie just kept spooking through my head all the time, keeping me awake for hours. Even now, I'm still thinking about the horrible faith of that poor girl. That has a lot to do with the excellent acting of course. Oksana Akinshina is a complete stranger to me, but her performance was so incredibly good and so believable, that you might easily forget that you are watching a movie instead of a real life documentary. Artyom Bogucharsky as Volodya, Pavel Ponomaryov as Andrej, Liliya Shinkaryova as Lilja's aunt,... None of them is famous or has played in many other movies, but one by one, they play their roles as if they have never done anything else in their entire lives. There are two scenes that you will remember. The first shows us Lilja's face when the men are on top of her. She just lies there, helpless, without any reason to live. The second shows us the faces of the men that are on top of her. This montage lets us see the ugliness of those people, what kind of animals the world knows. 'Lilja 4-ever' is a sad movie, but a good movie. Although we probably know that things like this happen, it is not bad to realize that from time to time. 'Fucking Åmål' director Lukas Moodysson makes sure we do that with his movie. The music, as well as the way the camera was handled added very much more to the film. In the opening, the music came on so loud and the camera so shaky, you almost know the film would be unbearably painful (in more ways than one).Powerful as the film is, there are some parts which are admittedly over the top. Having Lilja and Volodya play ball with wings on the roof top is quite whimsical actually. But all said, this was definitely a film worth watching

olympiquetango Loud music. A girl running. Tears in her eyes and despair. And blood on her young face. Hectic shots give you the feeling of panic, misery. The drama. Rammstein is singing "Mein Herz brennt". Lilja is done. Motorway bridge. Jump or not? The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of this movie is compassion. Lilja 4-ever captivated me. Made me sad, angry, made me feel helpless and weak. During this story that seems to be a passion I felt like screaming "no, don't do it. Be careful"… in vain. You won't find respite. You start to understand. This story will cover you in a cape of darkness. The days of light are over. But before we see if Lilja jumps or not Lukas Moodyssons takes us to the time and place where the breakup starts. The story is plain, clear and without a shadow of a doubt a forcefully narrated melodrama but still drawn through with a different kind of seriousness. Almost oneiric told, it reminds you sometimes of the movies of Robert Bressons with which it shares the same religious subtexts. Moodyssons name was put on the map with his blitheful sensitive movies "Fucking Åmål" and "Tilsammen". Already in these movies the director proved himself as someone with a grasp for leading young actors and showing their juvenile interior view, the only ones he takes serious in his movies. The adult world seems like a nightmare. From the very beginning you can see a foreshadowing in Liljas 15 year old face. Lilja. This Russian girl in the Ukraine. Where once the Sovjet Union was powerful now ruins assign the landscape. The promised land is called US of A. Lilja's mother also wants a re-start. And when she gets the chance to, she even leaves her only child behind. Lilja is left in a world where homo homini lupus est. Moodyssons always manages to make a connection to the western world. Shows us, we are somehow responsible for the situation Lilja is stuck in without losing the focus on the girl and us feeling sorry for her. Most haunting here is Lilja's hunger for happiness, her childish hoping and an angelesque innocence. And nevertheless she is lost: She loses her home, tries drugs, grows lonely, sinks into poverty, gets betrayed multiple times and ends up as an illegal prostitute in Sweden. She tried to be away from all that so hard though. In one scene we see her throwing away a certain amount of "dirty" money she got from a "friend" although she needs it so much. A typical Moodyssons scene. He is in love with his characters and in this case also in their agony… The only friend Lilja has is an unloved little boy. And he is the only one who tries to save her in his own way. But the tragedy recaps. Like her mother left her, Lilja leaves her friend, who commits suicide. The actress who plays Lilja- Oksana Akinshina- does an awesome job. Lilja appears smart and real. Stylistically Lilja 4 ever is narrated fast and straight-lined. What starts like a Popmovie gets more and more penurious and concentrated. The main focus is on Lilja. Every now and then the camera deepens in her face. The is music like the roller-coaster of emotions the viewer is in; from Vivaldi to t.a.T.u. to Alphaville to Rammstein… Lilja is escaping more and more into a dreamworld. At the end we see all the right decisions that have not been made in this life. And then Lilja is done, standing on a bridge. "Mein Herz brennt"