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LILJA
4-EVER EXPOSES THE TEENAGE WHITE SLAVE TRADE
 Last
year, the Political Film Society nominated Tricky
Life as best film exposé for showing
how the white slave trade operates between Uruguay and Spain.
An even grimmer picture of the white slave trade, this time
from Estonia to Sweden, is found in Lilja 4-Ever,
directed by Lukas Moodysson, who dedicates the film to the "millions
of children around the world exploited by the sex trade." Whereas Tricky
Life features young adults who leave their children
behind to go to Spain, believing the promise that they will
earn enough legitimate money to support their kids, Lilja
4-Ever focuses on sixteen-year-old Lilja (played
by Oksana Akinshina), who is first abandoned by her parents
in Estonia and then promised a marriage in Sweden that will
lift her life out of poverty and prostitution. When the film
begins, Lilja counts on going to America with her mother (played
by Ljubov Agapova) and stepfather; the latter picked her mother
as a "picture bride," that is, initially from a book
of marriage agency photographs, after which they met in Estonia.
However, the day before the trip, Lilja's mother informs her
that the newlyweds will go to America first, send money to
support her, and then summon her later. Lilja is understandably
unhappy about the change of plans, fearing that she will have
to remain alone in Russia without adult support. Her mother
arranges for her sister Anna (played by Liliya Shinkaryova)
to take care of Lilja; but as soon as her parents leave, Anna
kicks Lilja out of the family apartment (taking the comfortable
abode for herself) and transfers Lilja to a filthy small apartment
that was recently vacated by a soldier who died. Nevertheless,
Lilja has a boyfriend Volodya (played by Artiom Bogucharskij),
who is just past puberty. Volodya's father kicks him out of
his home from time to time, so Lilja allows him to stay with
her. Lilja confides her troubles to a classmate Natascha (played
by Elina Benenson), who suggests that she can get easy money
by being picked up by men at a disco.
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When
they go, Lilja turns down tricks, whereas her classmate
earns a few hundred rubles. When Natascha's father discovers
that she has a wad of cash, Natascha tells him that the
money was from Lilja for turning tricks, whereupon the
father escorts her to Lilja's apartment to give back the
money, and a rumor spreads that Lilja is a whore. While
neighborhood teenage bullies call her names, she carves
the words "Lilja 4-Ever" in a bench alongside
the word "Volodya" that her friend previously
carved. In any case, Lilja throws away the money, disgusted.
But she soon tries to retrieve the cash when she discovers
that the electricity in her apartment is turned off for
nonpayment of the bill. When she returns to the trashbin
in the street, the cash is gone. Anna refuses to take her
in, telling her to "spread her legs" as her mother
did to earn her keep. Lilja then becomes a prostitute at
the disco, easy prey for Andrei (played by Pavel Ponomarev),
who cleverly pretends to be in love with her so that she
will fly to Sweden as his bride. On the way to the airport,
Andrei tells her of a change of plans, that he has to visit
his mother, who has suddenly fallen sick, but that his
business associate Witek will meet her at the airport and
set up her accommodations and a job of picking vegetables.
Upon her arrival, Witek (played by Tomas Neumann) meets
her, takes her passport (as in Tricky Life),
drives her to a small apartment, and then locks her in
(reminiscent of the teenage female prostitute in Lino Brocka's
1988 film Macho Dancer). Although
Lilja pleaded with Andrei to bring along Volodya, the latter
is left behind and dies from an overdose of pills. Lilja
ultimately jumps to her death after she takes advantage
of the fact that the door to her apartment is left unlocked,
perhaps deliberately so that she would do so. The Political
Film Society has nominated Lilja 4-Ever for
best film of 2003, both as an exposé and as best
film raising consciousness of an important issue of human
rights that has yet to receive appropriate worldwide attention.
MH
FILMS
TO WATCH
See the reviews of Better
Luck Tomorrow, City
of Ghosts, House
of Fools, and Raising
Victor Vargas. All are worth seeing.
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