Lukas Moodysson (Box Set)

Star Review

When Lukas Moodyson released his debut feature Show Me Love (Aka Fucking Åmål) Ingmar Bergman announced it was “a young master’s first masterpiece”. Watching it it’s easy to see how right he was. Elin, a pretty, popular and boisterous girl, drunkenly kisses the bookish Agnes without realising the enormous crush Agnes has on her. Surprisingly, the pair tentatively embark on a relationship and innocently explore the confusing emotions of first love.

A joy to watch, the story realistically captures the pains an anxieties of teenage life culminating in a feel good ending that puts others to shame. His follow up, Together, a social drama set in a commune in the 1970s is equally uplifting and infectious. Moodysson once again displays his ability to draw delightful and emotive performances from his actors.

If his first films were critisised for being too sugary his most recent work has progressively explored the bitter heart of modern society. In Lilya-4-Ever, a Russian girl is abandoned by her mother, kidnapped and forced into prostitution. Bold and brutal, the film is as difficult to endure as it should be and has been used to warn women of the dangers of the sex trade. His latest work, A Hole In My Heart delves deeper into the ever-spiralling degradation of society and is a transgressive collage focusing on the participants in a DIY porn film.

What saves these last two films from unbearable nihilism are the extraordinary performance’s, in particular Oksana Akinshina as the tragic Lilya, and Moodyson’s absolute commitment and sincerity. His stories are neither clichéd nor condescending and his fearless experimentation has made him one of the most significant directors working today.

Steve Turner on 1st April 2005

View all 30 of Steve Turner’s reviews

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Film Description

Features four films from Lukas Moodysson - Show Me Love (Aka Fucking Åmål), Together, Lilya 4-Ever and Hole In My Heart.

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DVD Extras

• Four discs
• 'Talk' - Moodysson's first short film
• The Guardian interview with Lukas Moodysson
• Lukas moodysson trailer reel
• Promotional material from Amnesty International and UNICEF in support of Lilya 4-Ever
• 'A Second Hole in my Heart' Making-of documentary
• Lukas Moodysson masterclass
• Director's statement
• A Hole in my Heart trailer.

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