Shugo Oshinari, Aoi Yu, and Ayumi Ito stand out the most. The rest of the supporting cast is also good. The cyber texting element that Iwai employs consistently throughout the picture is also a creative element worthy of note.Hayato Ichihara's character is a bit bland, but he works well with what he has. For the most part, the camerawork is great. The first hour and the last 30 minutes are the better parts, while the middle tends to drag.With that said, Shunji Iwai's directing makes this worth watching. The story can be tough to get into and the run time is just under 2 and a half hours. It shows how music can be a place for people to seek sanctuary from their everyday lives. The acting occasionally feels too deliberate and unnaturally earnest for plausible adolescent girls, but it’s an element that’s easy to overlook given the idealized purity and simplicity of their relationship.Shunji Iwai's All About Lily Chou-Chou is one of those films that stands out on its own.The story is quite unique and so is the writing, but this film is not for everybody. It features unusually slow and minimal shots that immerse the viewer in the mundane beauty of rural Japan. The film focuses on an intimate relationship between two high school girls with disparate personalities. Another notable detail is that the band’s vocalist is a Korean transfer student, which creates a unique dynamic between cultures that coexist within the band. A portrayal of young women within the framework of hard work and close-knit friendships, it embodies the Japanese vision of youth: a period of life tacitly assigned the task to pursue meaning through a release of one’s innermost passions. This teen flick about an all-female high school band is structurally and thematically accessible to any viewer, yet it also explores tropes of school life that convey a tangible nostalgia and a touch of wistfulness to a Japanese audience. Linda Linda Linda (2005) – Nobuhiro Yamashita Also see Gaichu, a film that similarly deals with repressed angst and precocious schoolchildren. Iwai went on to make a much more lighthearted and successful romantic comedy three years later, Hana and Alice. Although it seems to leave most of its viewers more bewildered than satisfied, it features an experimental approach to the camera that captures raw light and movement. It addresses social issues that trouble adolescents – such as bullying, underage prostitution, and alienation – but through an esoteric and enigmatic obfuscation that involves a cyber-cult devoted to a faceless singer, Lily Chou-Chou. This film is based on a rather convoluted and chaotic novel, a result of multiple contributors writing online. Though their extreme naïveté may not be for everyone, here are some Japanese coming-of-age films to fill the slow spring days.Īll About Lily Chou-Chou (2001) – Shunji Iwai These slice-of-life movies may feel bare, but they give poignancy to every moment and to every ordinary individual. There seems to be no shortage of stories about the wonders and troubles of youth in independent Japanese films from the 2000s.
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