When something transcends the 'intellectualisation' of that thing and reaches so very deep into the pulsing blood-red of our inside - that is art. Art isn't about accurate oil paintings of bowls of fruit, or Velázquez masturbating images of the rich and/or dwarves - it is about challenging the indescribable 'feeling' of experience. That is why paintings by the 'masters' very rarely classify as 'art' to me - and cinema is actually one of the peaks of true 'artistic' endeavour (and not only 'entertainment'). Paintings by Michelangelo and the other poster boys of 'classical art' leave me cold - we are told time-and-again that this is 'art', conditioned to restrict Duchamp's urinal to paraphernalia. Well, classical painting is the dull paraphernalia of what I consider 'true' art - and cinema sits at the core of this vision.
And so Lukas Moodysson (also the director of Together & Show me Love1), has achieved in Lilya 4-Ever a deserved claim to 'masterpiece'. I really can't overstate what a profoundly intense and fucking amazing film this is. I can't (don't want to) approach it intellectually, but it really devastated me emotionally.
It is the story of Lilya (Oksana Akinshina), a 16 year girl in Russia, and her slow slide into prostitution and eventual trafficking to a pimp in Sweden. Core to the film is the desperate and tender friendship with a younger boy, Volodya (Artiom Bogucharsky), who often sleeps on the street because of the whims of an abusive father. I won't really objectify the film into description - it is a film to be felt - combining a transcendent poetry with the raw bloody viscera of reality. It is wonderfully directed and structured, brilliantly acted and flawless in so many ways.
Yolanda (my friend whose MSc dissertation will be on trafficking of women) pointed out (rightly) that the film is probably not representative of many women's experiences of sex-trafficking. Many trafficked sex-workers often live together and have this as a kind of support network, something that Lilya never experiences. I agree it may not be representative, yet this film is about the experience of one girl, and was not for me a film whose aim was overtly 'political' (unlike In This World ), but it was a portrait of a life, a fellow being. It was, from my point above, a real and profound portrait, not like the trivial craftsmanship2 of Raphael, but of the true kind of transcendental art.
1 See an Interview with him here
2 A substantial body of 'classical art' for me is 'just' craftsmanship. Technically impressive and pleasing to the eye - but as reflections that deeply touch us inside and make us think about or challenge our existence (my claim to true art), they fail miserably.
3 Here is a brief sketch I wrote last night in my diary: it is a profound and intense masterpiece. Combining transcendent poetry with the raw bloody viscera of reality - it is a true work of art. Like all such peaks, it has the ability to pierce deep into your heart, and therefore be very disturbing. But the poetry flowing through the film elevates it SO very far above the usual emotional 'shock-tactics' of contrived Hollywood tear-jerkers. A true and profound treasure!
Posted by Ian at May 14, 2003 01:38 PM | TrackBack