I recently sent Lukas Moodysson a message to let him know that I loved and wrote a very positive review of what I believe is his most unfairly maligned film (A Hole in My Heart, which is sitting around a 4.6 on IMDb right now) and he actually took the time to message me back and thank me for the kind words. This is now the third or fourth time he's been nice enough to respond to one of my little appreciative e-mails, and I don't think he realizes how much his responses mean to me. His 2002 film, Lilja 4-Ever, is one of the few films that I can safely say actually changed my life. Sometimes you hear people say, "oh, that film changed my life," but they might not really mean it; they might, but they might not. Usually that just means that they just love the film. Lilja 4-Ever is one of the few films I've watched that actually changed me as a person: it was so life-affirming and emotionally affecting (though incredibly disturbing) that I actually vowed to be a more selfless person after I finished seeing it. It was a surreal experience - I was dragged so deeply into an eastern European underground of poverty and mistreatment that I realized how lucky I am to be born and raised where I was born and raised, and to have been given the parents that I've been given. It's the film, the experience, that I remind myself of each and every time that I'm complaining about something trivial. I watched it either sometime at the end of 2012 or at the beginning of 2013 and since then, I believe I've become a more respectful person. I now try to take others' emotions into consideration before I speak or act, which is not something that I always did before then. Each time that I get worked up over something inconsequential, I make myself think of Lilja's face and suddenly everything isn't so bad, because I know it could be much, much worse. So it means a hell of a lot to me that a director whose finest film I cherish so deeply takes time out of his day to acknowledge my gratitude, but it makes sense - that a mind as thoughtful as the one who brought such an important film into the world would be caring enough to respond to those who love it. He has made my week, yet again, and I hope that I get the chance to meet him someday so that I can shake his hand and give thanks in person.