NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Arrow Blu-ray (January 2023): Arrow have transferred Lukas Moodysson's Lilya 4-Ever to Blu-ray as part of their The Lukas Moodysson Collection that has Fucking Åmål, Together, Lilya 4-ever, A Hole in My Heart, Container, Mammoth, and We Are The Best!  It is cited as being from a "4K restoration by the Swedish Film Institute from the original camera negative, approved by director Lukas Moodysson and cinematographer Ulf Brantås". The image compares well with anamorphic PAL DVDs, from back in 2002 + 2003, compared HERE. The 1080P image tightens up, has superior contrast and deeper black levels, generally more information in the frame and doesn't have PAL speedup. Lilya 4-ever was shot with an Aaton XTR Prod on 16mm film which was later transferred to 35mm. It looked very pleasing on my system.

NOTE: We have added 62 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Arrow offer the option of a DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround track or a linear PCM 2.0 channel (both 24-bit) in the original Russian language. Lilya 4-Ever has few aggressive moments that come through with modest depth and a score by Nathan Larson (Margin Call, The Messenger, God's Pocket)  sounding clean with consistent dialogue in the lossless transfer. The film has a lot of other music performed by artists like Rammstein, VIA Gra, Fläskkvartetten, Valeriya, Antiloop, Marya Roxx, Da Buzz, Blanka as well as Vivaldi's Symphony in 4 H-Minor 'Al Santo Sepolcro' (RV169.) Arrow offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

Included on the Arrow Blu-ray is another interview, the third part, with Lukas Moodysson by film programmer Sarah Lutton, newly produced by Arrow Video, discussing the making of his third feature film. There is also a 1/2 hour interview with costume designer Denise Ostholm discussing her work on Lilya 4-Ever and Mammoth. Included is a 1.5 hour Q&A with Lukas Moodysson, moderated by critic Danny Leigh, following the UK premiere of Lilya 4-Ever at the 2002 London Film Festival. There is a theatrical trailer and image gallery. The package also has a 200-page hardback book featuring new writing by Peter Walsh, excerpts from the original press kits for each film, including interviews with and directors’ statements from Moodysson, and essays on his films from a 2014 special issue of the Nordic culture journal Scandinavica by C. Claire Thomson, Helga H. Lúthersdóttir, Elina Nilsson, Scott MacKenzie & Anna Westerståhl Stenport and Kjerstin Moody.

Lukas Moodysson's Lilya 4-Ever always deeply effects me. The film is loosely based on the tragic life of a 16-year old Lithuanian girl, Danguolė Rasalaitė, a victim of human trafficking and sexual slavery, who ended up in Malmö, Sweden after her mother moved to the USA - deserting her in an unnamed former republic of the Soviet Union. The character of Volodya (played by Artyom Bogucharskiy) was entirely fictional. Moodysson wrote the script in Swedish and then had it translated into Russian. Oksana Akinshina and Moodysson had to communicate through an interpreter because Oksana could not speak Swedish or English. It's a film that destroys me - even now 20-years after seeing it on DVD. It is an integral part of Arrow's The Lukas Moodysson Collection Blu-ray. A film you must see in your lifetime.

Gary Tooze