Ok, let's get it straight once and for all.
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Lilya 4-Ever
robertodelamar — 16 years ago(August 07, 2009 03:55 PM)
Ok, let's get it straight once and for all.
No more nonsense about the film being about Estonia or Esonians. Ok?
It may have been filmed in Estonia, but it is about Russian culture and Russians.
The Scandinavian director felt more comfortable filming closer to home.
For whatever reason.
Estonia was used simply as location the way Toronto had often been used to represent New York or Prague is often used to represent Berlin.
It is true that during the USSR time, Estonia's language was officially Russian, but, again, this fact has nothing to do with the film.
The film had zero referrence to Estonia, Estonia's culture or Estonians as such except for the physical location of the shooting which is meant to represent typical underpriveleged neighborhoods in Russia.
I am a fluent Russian speaker by the way and have lived in Russia and Scandinavia.
"Casabalanca" was filmed entirely in California. That does not make it about California, does it? -
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Novosibirsk — 16 years ago(August 25, 2009 11:53 AM)
Uhh it kind of does.
The original poster doesnt know squat about estonia and neither do you.
They specifically didnt say it happened in russia, so it couldve just as easily been in estonia, latvia, belarus, ukraine - doesnt matter.
No "reference to estonian culture" was required becaus many russians in estonia, IN REAL LIFE cant speak estonian, live in russian neighbourhoods or cities(!), go to russian schools just like in this film.
Yet they used estonian currency in the film - how hard would it have been to get some ruples? -
robertodelamar — 16 years ago(September 12, 2009 07:21 PM)
Novosibirsk: I am not sure what you know, but you certainly seem to have zero reading and zero logical ability.
Point 1:
Learn how to read:
If you were to read my original post, you will see that I did not claim that the film could not happen in Estonia.
So your question, "Exactly why couldent something like this happen in estonia?"
addresses your own fantasy.
I merely stated and maintain that the movie subject was in no way particular to Estonia, and that it has to do with Russian culture and that it could have been set in any of the former 15 republics of the Soviet Union (including Estonia, of course).
Point 2:
Learn how to think logically:
Yes you are correct that 50% of Estonians are Russians.
And let us agree with you (for the sake of argument) that in real life that ALL Russians in Estonia cannot speak Estonian and that they ALL speak ONLY Russian.
You are ready. Mr Logic?
Even if the above statements are true, that leaves a full 50% of the people in Estonia as Estonians, who should speak Estonian in every day life.
Did you hear any Estonian spoken in the film at all? By anyone? To anyone?
The fact is that there was zero Estonian spoken in the film just as you have zero logic.
Learn how to read first.
And then, learn how to think if that is possible.
Roberto -
like_a_lion — 16 years ago(September 13, 2009 01:25 PM)
Little bit of data from Wikipedia:
Ethnic groups in Estonia:
68.8 % Estonian
25.6 % Russian
6.6 % others
In Tallinn however (the capital) the Russian population really is around 40%
Just to clarify. Otherwise don't mind me. -
thelongblondes — 16 years ago(September 16, 2009 05:34 AM)
Wow. I've been to Tallin twice and did not notice there were so many Russians!
Estonian and Russian are two very, very different languages. Much more different than say, French and English. Estonian derivates from Finnish, while Russian is a slavic language. I would find it surprising if everyone in town could fluently speak Russian
One of my friends works in a shop in Riga (Latvia), and she once told me that a woman from the countryside entered her boutique and started talking in Russian. She could speak English, German, but not Russian. The woman got mad for that, and yelled at her in Latvian. My friend just said : "If you can speak Latvian, why should we speak Russian ?". Maybe some people in those countries manage to stick to Russian, but it rather seems like an exception than something normal. -
Novosibirsk — 16 years ago(September 16, 2009 05:05 PM)
robertodelamar look up what you actually wrote.
Here is your quote:
No more nonsense about the film being about Estonia
or Esonians.
-Its like saying that Eastern Promises has nothing to do with England. Yeah the story is of Russian culture (more like the lack of thereof), but this film in no more about the state of Russia than it is of Estonia. And once again, the 100 crown they keep exchanging
ARE VERY PARTICULAR TO ESTONIA
.
So you learn to read.
As for your great knowledge about Estonia.. well youve discredited yourself well enough.
There are loads of Russians in Estonia who have no wish to learn Estonian. The place was heavily colonized during the occupation (Latvia even worse) and with maybe only a few exceptions EVERY ESTONIAN BORN DURING THE OCCUPATION CAN SPEAK RUSSIAN. So there. And next time when you go on holidays for a couple of days dont dilute yourself into thinking you know the land. Going to see the pyramids doesnt mean you know anything about Egypt. -
sturmv — 12 years ago(February 07, 2014 04:11 PM)
That's not true. I'm an Estonian born during the occupation and I can't speak Russian, same goes for most people I know (they just speak a few words). Indeed, people born in 1940s to 1970s can speak Russian, typically.
This can't be Estonia because official letters are in Estonian, sometimes also in Russian but never just Russian. And in that "dirty old man" club, the signs were in Russian and English - in reality if there's English then there's also Estonian. -
MrFilmJunkie — 12 years ago(March 05, 2014 01:18 PM)
it neither about estonia nor russia specifically:
DL: You very deliberately made the fictional location in the film non-specific. Were you ever tempted to admit that you were in Estonia, where it was filmed?
LM: At the beginning, we said that we were in Estonia. But after a while, it felt like the story didn't just take place in Estonia. It takes place all over the world. It takes place in Japan and many other places.
source:
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2002/nov/20/features.dannyleigh -
Swzki — 11 years ago(May 20, 2014 02:42 PM)
I agree completely with what you said. I was confused initially and thought the characters would speak Estonian or something, but the story really does take place in Russia. The soundtrack includes Russian songs, the characters speak the language, their names are used in Russia, and so on.
In regards to MrFilmJunkie's post, Lukas said that because the same thing could happen to anybody in the world. I mean human trafficking isn't restricted to a certain region. The same things that Lilya experienced could happen with anybody. -
iguanapig — 10 years ago(September 20, 2015 12:51 PM)
Mmmno. It's not about Russia.
It's based on a life of Danguol Rasalait (19 May 1983 10 January 2000)
She was a Lithuanian girl who was sold as a sex-slave in Sweden late 1999. On 7 January 2000, she committed suicide by jumping off a bridge in Malm, she died 3 days later in the hospital. -
TheGameHasChanged — 10 years ago(February 20, 2016 01:03 PM)
The actors speak Russian throughout the film, but the OP was wrong about the film being about Russia.
Excerpt from a BBC interview with the writer/director Lukas Moodysson:
BBC:
Is Lilya a symbol of Russia?
Moodysson:
"No. The film for me is not about Russia, or about Sweden. For me it's about the gap between rich and poor, amongst other things. The rich doesn't mean Sweden and the poor doesn't mean Russia."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2003/03/28/lukas_moodysson_lilya_4_ever_interview.shtml