Lillian

Cercamon

Andreas Horvath's Lillian is an astonishing piece of stoic – almost silent – cinema that discusses profound and captivating sentiments on an immigrant in the western world without speaking a word aloud. 

Lillian is loosely based on the voyage of Lillian Alling, a Russian immigrant who walked across 1920s America from New York to Alaska to go back home to her native Russia with an updated contemporary spin. It is a heartfelt and somewhat saddening sentiment that a story detailing the trials and tribulations of an immigrant in 1920s America, one hundred years ago, is easily replicated and holds the same weight today. A thematic weight that director Andreas Horvath examines and explores with an often dark, brutal but compelling atmosphere. Throughout its one hundred and thirty-minute running time, Horvath dives deep into racial prejudice, gender oppression and a bleak underbelly of human existence. Themes that are not thrown around with no interest or depth but instead are crucial elements to tell a far more impressive and compelling story of not only what it means to be an immigrant in American society but also a woman.

The woman in question, played by Patrycja Planik, follows a dark but uplifting trajectory of spirit and dedication, resulting in extraordinary talent on screen. Planik showcases a delicate albeit reinforced role of determination and power through her plight in a manner of subtle physical nuance, along the lines of evoking emotion in a similar vein as a mime artist. A performance that is mute but tells a tremendous tale through visual elements via the actress's physicality and the personal, immediate cinematography by cinematographer/director Horvath.

The director captures the chaotic silence and magnitude of a multifaceted nation in its contradiction and amazement brutally and beautifully. Exhibiting this oxymoronic world in all of its dynamic shape and size. The aforementioned brutality is on occasion a little too abrasive, specifically the final few minutes that has sadism ramped up to the max concerning human lust for survival. With its point made, Andreas Horvath goes a little too heavy-handed on showcasing the depth of such a theme. 

That being said, Andreas Horvath's Lillian is a masterful dynamic and profound examination of modern-day America wrapped in a dark Lynchian-esque vibe to show the power of the soul and human nature. Coupled with an extraordinary central performance from Patrycja Planik, beautifully intrusive cinematography from Horvath's and a sublime emotive score from the writer-director, undeniably stands Lillian as a profound cinematic venture.