Monday, January 7, 2008

Realist attempt by a woman filmmaker : Search for a lonely woman's identity.

S lyubovyu.Lilya (2003) directed by Larisa Sadilova

In the past it was through the ageless writings of famous Russian writers like Tolstoy,Gorky,Chekov,Pushkin,Dostoyevski etc that the entire world got an idea of what a Russian identity is and at the same time how difficult it is to understand the Russian identity.In the modern world,it is through feature films and documentaries that viewers are forming an idea of the same inscrutable Russian identity. This particular film "With love, Lily" is a brave cinematographic attempt by Larissa Sadilova at revealing some finer aspects of hard to decipher identity of a Russian soul.This film is unique for being one of those rare films which talk of a woman protagonist leading a difficult life in a provincial town.This setting has been useful in unraveling one of the most terrible enemies of human existence : loneliness.In this film there is emotional turmoil too as due to lack of choice there are hardly any suitable partners for
women. Although the heroine would very much like to escape from the maze of hard life, owing to family obligations she cannot even contemplate a move in this regard."With love, Lily" is a sad film but it has its own share of light comical
moments which help in sustaining viewers' interest. strongly recommended for:all those keen on watching quality films from Russia as well as interested in finding out hidden facets of a Russian person's identity.

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