Customer Reviews

All About Lily Chou-Chou

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

At first I chalked it up to cultural difference. "Why do I need to watch a film about bad kids in Japan?" I thought. "I was nothing like that; I can't relate to this at all." But I kept watching. The lush colors, the mesmerizing light, the amazing teenage actors all held me in their stories. Then I remembered, yes, this was an awful time...14 years old; insanely alive and confused...I watched the making-of documentary of the internet-novel-turned-film and understood why All About Lily Chou-Chou had won awards from both the 2002 Berlin and Shanghai International Film Festivals.
Youth is so often shot with a Vaseline-coated lens on screen and in memory. We all think we were "good kids." Only in passing do we acknowledge the power of the ages between 13 and 15 for the immense potential for vitality and cruelty. But director and writer Shunji Iwai has created a film that shows children as they have power to be. The story is centered around Yuichi Hasumi, told through his alias, philia, in his BBS-style chat-room "Lilyphilia," devoted to the fictional musician, Lily Chou-Chou. It is the "ether" of her music that enchants him-the life-force or chi that flows through her and into the world by her voice and electronic stylings. Debussy, Satie, the Beatles, and Björk are all said to have a similar ether. Between the subtle electronic score of Takeshi Kobayashi and the classic piano solos of Claude Debussy, I understood ether immediately, and the escapist power of this music within Yuichi's chaotic, bullied life. At the same time, there was no pity for him, or for any other character. All are complexly expressive: not the toothpaste-ad acting we've come to expect from teen actors in America. Frustration and injustice flowed beneath control and rage. Bitterness and unrequited longing linger under the happiest expressions. Strength and courage grow in spite of public humiliation. Admiration and servility cover deep fear and inadequacy. Don DeLillo, in his novel, White Noise, understood this when he wrote, "It is all there, in full force, charges waves of identity and being. There are no amateurs in the world of children." All are swimming in their growing bodies, in their malleable identities, their secrets, intense feelings, betrayals; all in the context of a junior high school. This is not about culture shock. This is not about cultural difference. All About Lily Chou-Chou rewires our memories, makes us see our 14-year-old selves as we were: shifting and spinning between angel and monstrosity.

That's 5/5 for the film itself and 1/5 for this edition.
First off, this is one of my favourite movies, and while it's not for everyone, I would recommend it unreservedly, because if it works for you then the payoff is tremendous.
However, I must warn against this Home Vision version for a first taste of the film. The transfer to DVD in this version is so awful that it goes beyond mere misjudgement, and debate continues about how Home Vision -- a company with an excellent track record with Asian releases -- could have allowed its release. These aren't subtle differences only noticed by fanatics and cinemaphiles; they're huge. It actually looks like it was booklegged from a theatre with a hand-held handicam. But apparently it wasn't, and that's scary.
With regard to the video, the least serious problem is digital artifacting and loss of detail caused by squeezing a 2.5-hour movie plus special features onto a single DVD. That's a marketing decision, and somewhat understandable.
What's not understandable is the incredible graininess that has somehow been introduced into the film. Or the great reduction in contrast and brightness -- the vivid colours of the original were a trademark, yet now everything looks like it was filmed in late afternoon on an overcast day. Even the colour balance has been changed, so that skin tones have a greyish-blue look -- there are no pure whites left (another trademark). And finally, the picture actually shakes -- this is most noticable during the many scenes of typed text.
For most, this would be bad enough, but for me, the audio is even worse than the video -- the worst attempt at dynamic compression I can remember hearing in a film. Yes, the parts that are supposed to be quiet are way too loud, and the parts that are supposed to be loud are way too quiet, but most annoyingly, whenever there's a song playing it sounds like there's some 5-year old kid rapidly flicking the volume knob up

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.

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

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.

Simply put, this is a new favorite of mine. It's gone to the top of my list, and will for surely stay there for quite some time.

Everything about the movie is fantastic. The acting, the directing, the story... Especially the use of light and natural beauty. Really, somehow Shunji Iwai has conquered the impossible: he's captured some of the most beautiful images I've ever seen on film. And the best thing is, those images have meaning. The film's other highest point is the soundtrack: it's absolutely amazing. Of course, there's the instrumental music here and there, which is high quality, but the REAL meat of the soundtrack is the songs from Lily Chou Chou, the singer Yuichi worships and finds solace and peace in (despite his wretched life). The tracks we get to hear (I think there's only about four or five) are just amazingly... beautiful. They're so poetic that it's hard to describe, but Lily's voice is so... magnetic and strong. I could listen to the tracks over and over again and not get bored of them AT ALL (they're that absorbing).

The movie shows so realistically growing up is, and to quote the dvd cover, it's "viciously" honest, and they're not lyin.

If you want a true visual and emotional masterpiece, don't dare miss this film.

Although 'All About Lily Cou-Chou' starts out rather slow and vaguely understandable it's entirety more than makes up for it. If you were to take away one or each part of the film it would in itself still be a beautiful piece of work. The layering of the minimalistic but sharp dialogue, stunning camerawork, and music that adds so much depth to each scene cannot be disregarded.

To get it out of the way, this DVD by Home Vision is a poor transfer which does a great injustice to a beautifully shot classic. It's a grainy, blurry travesty... BUT, it's the easiest way to see the film in English.

As for the movie itself, All About Lily Chou-Chou is a Japanese film portraying the lives of Japanese high school students engaged in, well, the darkest and worst aspects of human behavior. This came out amidst a wave of Japanese "teens gone wild" films, the most notorious being Battle Royale, but Lily is the intellectual crown of the genre (if that's what you want to call it). It's long and confusing (you should watch it twice), but infinitely rewarding for someone willing to enjoy the gorgeous cinematography while being patient with the plot.

It's the magnum opus of director Shunji Iwai, who was already famous in Japan and throughout Asia for intelligent romances such as Love Letter and more arty films like Swallowtail Butterfly. The film stars the best young actor in Japan, the fiery Shugo Oshinari, and the soundtrack is a near-classic unto itself.

I like to compare Lily to the great novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, in that they are both works of art that encompass the absolute entirety of human experience: power, defeat, suicide, transcendence, revenge, vindication, pride, murder, rape, justice, victory, acceptance, happiness and utter misery. Lily can be interpreted as a metaphorical history of mankind, told in two and a half hours... or at least that's my take on it!

One of the greatest Japanese films of all time (in company with Kurosawa or anyone else you'd care to name) and the first truly great movie about the Internet (not like there's much competition on that one... anyone gonna argue for You've Got Mail?). Lily is one of those rare films that gets people *obsessed*-- small but dedicated online communities thrive to this day-- which is usually a sign that it's at least worth a watch.

Although this movie can be a bit confusing as it hops around in time sequence, it is really poignant and worth watching. It focuses on Japanese youths and the troubles that they face in the world today. Much different than anything you might see in an American teen movie, it is much darker and surreal. A young boy who drowns his sorrows in the music of Lily Chou-Chou, a Japanese version of Bjork, struggles with everyday life--and not just your normal teenage angst, either. This movie deals with rape, violence, depression, and so much more. You have to really want to understand this movie to enjoy it...be in the mood to relate to others and really get into the characters, because it is not a light movie.

This is a film for anybody who's ever been a teenager who has used music to escape from the cruel world of people who just don't understand... it's also for anybody who's been on an online bulletin board music fan site... (yes, that means half of you guys who are reading this...)

I have to admit, this film is a little slow, and somewhat confusing, to start with... I'd also read heaps of reviews saying how great this film was, and about an hour into it, I was starting to question this... as I suspect were the three or four people around me who had gotten up and left by this stage... but I stood (well, sat) my ground and sat through the two and a half hours, and it was more than worth it...

Sometimes funny, but always balanced with a sense of futility and depression... this is the essence of the film, and this is what life is like for the fans that are brought together online by Lily Chou-Chou's (a fictional J-pop star) music (something remeniscent of Portishead or Bjork)... a boy who is tormented by his ex-best friend-...-school bully, but it too scared to fight back, despite the damage that is being done to his other friends, and struggles to keep his sanity through his adolescence. People will probably completely disagree with me here, but AALCC kinda reminded me of Degrassi High, with a Japanese setting, a cooler soundtrack, and (arguably) somewhat grittier and depressing.

Oh, and if you watch this, keep in mind that the timeline does jump around a little.