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All About Lily Chou Chou Actors: Hayato Ichihara, Shûgo Oshinari Director: Shunji Iwai Number of Items: 1 Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Running Time: 146 minutes Studio: Image Entertainment Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2005-02-15 Buy from Amazon |
 "Haunting, and frighteningly honest"This is a film that takes a lot of risks, and break a lot of traditional film rules for the sake of creating something that simply wouldn't work any other way. It's a film about childhood, and the loneliness of the times in which young people are still trying to decide who they are. The structure of the film is bizarre, and it requires the viewer to fall into rhythm with it, but it is very rewarding if you do. The film is, rather than an arc of story, simply a collection of vignettes - various moments from the children's lives put together out of order in flashbacks over 2 years. The film centers about a young boy Yuichi who retreats from the world into the music of his favourite singer (A fictional Lily Chou Chou - kind of a cross between Tori Amos, Bjork, and Fiona Apple, with a dash of goth thrown in), and hosting his own internet chat room devoted to her. I say it centers, because it does orbit around that center spiralling out through the course of the film introducing a myriad of characters as the social fabric changes, and friendships shift. At times it seems to wander, especially through the middle third, onto bizarre tangents - there is no explicit direction, no clear single story that these vignettes are telling. The common thread helping to tie things together is a constant stream of comments and conversation running on the internet chatroom - because this is where the children (with the anonymity the internet provides) actually open up to each other - that is constantly intercut into the film. But all the scattered pieces slowly begin to fall together for what is a truly powerful last forty five minutes. The strength of the film is its terrible honesty. It's scattered elliptical style makes the film far more real because, mirroring life, it doesn't have a single purpose, or a main plot - it simply unfolds, flowing and shifting as it goes. Iwai, the director and writer, pulls no punches. He is quite willing to explore vicious social interplay as children try to find their place in the social order. And is just as willing to admire, and dwell on the simple innocence of so many children. The internet conversation in the film is derived from real internet chat - the director simply logged vast amounts (the film was originally an online novel), and again, this reality and honesty lends the film remarkable weight. If you get any chance to see this film, just go. Don't hesitate. I can't promise you'll like it - it is a very daring film. It takes a lot of risks, and in my opinion they all come off flawlessly, but others may disagree. What I can promise you is that the film will stay with you for a very very long time.  "A shamefully inadequate edition of a seminal work of art"Let me first state that my one-star rating has nothing to do with the film itself, it is a rating of the DVD. I truly consider this film, "Riri Shu-Shu no subete", to be one of the greatest works of art ever created in the cinematic medium. I own the Japanese DVD (both the normal and collector's editions), and the British edition as well. I was happy for American audiences when I saw this was finally coming out on DVD in the USA, but I have changed my mind after finally getting my hands on the disk. It is simply awful. The video transfer is ghastly to behold, and as if this weren't bad enough, the audio is even worse. What can the DVD producers have been thinking? Here we have a film that is utterly glorious to behold, and even more glorious to listen to, a film where the music forms an extremely important part of the whole, and all we get is this crappy disk? The whole thing looks like it was filmed through a vaseline-smeared fog (while the original is digitally crisp and clear like a spring morning), and the music sounds as if is coming from a battery-driven cassette-player that has seen much better days. It makes me sad to the point of weeping, and very angry inside. It is totally disrespectful to the art and care that went into the making of this amazing film. I hope that the cast and crew will never see or hear this edition - I'm quite sure they would be devastated to see how their work has been ruined by the hands of others. Fortunately, I have the perfectly produced Japanese disks to go back to. Even the European edition, although far from perfect, is much, much better than this travesty. I confess that I only bought this, because it contains the Japanese "making-of" with subtitles, because the Japanese original doesn't have any subtitles and my Japanese is not much good. I was glad to be finally able to view the "making-of" feature with the needed subtitles, but here again there was disappointment: why, oh why, did they have to cut 20 minutes out of this excellent documentary? I could hardly believe it, because there is no obvious reason for the cuts. I am going to try my best to forget that this disk exists. It really hurts to know that many people are going to see this film for the first time in this edition. It is a thought that makes me incredibly sad, because this is a film I dearly love, and would like everyone to see in its full and splendid glory. The Ether has been polluted. Here's a translation of the first of Lily's songs in the film, translated from a Japanese translation of the Okinawan: ARABESQUE blue sky blue sea birdsong blue sky blue sea birdsong of the south when the white flowers blossomed a girl was born the girl was named after the flower blue sky blue sea birdsong blue sky blue sea birdsong of the south when the white flowers blossomed a girl was born the girl was named after the flower the girl was named after the flower blue sky blue sea birdsong when the red flowers blossom "All About Lily Chou-Chou"Uneven, confusing, and a tad pretentious, but this movie had that certain something which made it so incredibly absorbing and almost hypnotic. I was expecting to see a movie about the jaded Japanese youths obsessing over a pop icon to escape reality, but Lily Chou-Chou is used only to establish a connection between the characters while the movie deals mostly with how ijime affects the Japanese kids. This is a kind of movie that I definitely want to see again.  "Pretty DAMN good!"I saw this film AFTER i bought the Lily chou chou CD soundtrack and let me say that the music itself is great but it became more special when i heard it throughout the film. The movie itself is good. I can't say it's great as i found it a little too long. But ultimately, it is a good film. It tackles the insecurities and struggles of the youngsters in their lives. Don't think this is a film only for young people though. I would say that even an adult would be able to identify with the film. The images are great in the film as well. It is not an over-the-top shocking film. The most extreme parts are dealt with in a more subtle kind of way. If anything, Bully and Kids are more shocking films. "One of the Most Disturbingly Beautiful Films of All Time"All About Lily Chou Chou, brought to us by genius director Shunji Iwai, is easily one of my favorite movies of all time. I can't tell everyone how ecstatic I am that this movie is finally available to purchase here in the States. Shown through the eyes of thirteen year old Yuichi Hasumi (played by Hayato Ichihara), an avid fan of fictional singer Lily Chou-Chou, this movie shows the problems associated with the disaffected youth and bullying in modern day Japan. We are witness to such things as broken families, theft, rape, forced prostitution, blackmail and even murder. Things seem to be looking good for Yuichi as he enters junior high and makes a core group of friends, including Shusuke Hoshino (played by Shugo Oshinari from Battle Royale 2); however, after a trip to Okinawa filled with disaster, things change for the worse for everyone. At times it can be shocking, even disturbing, but Shunji Iwai has created a movie so beautiful that you can't help but watch it. The movie was the first film in Japan to be shot on digital film and the level of detail is incredible. Also starring in the movie are Ayumi Ito from Swallowtail Butterfly (a movie for which she won many awards for) as the musically talented and much lusted after but picked on Yoko Kuno, and Yu Aoi from Hana & Alice playing Shiora Tsuda, a girl with a dark secret. Don't just pick up this movie if you are a fan of asian cinema. Buy this movie if you appreciate quality films of any kind, and then show it to all of your friends. |
