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All About Lily Chou-Chou
リリイ・シュシュのすべて
2001 146 min Japan 12+
★7.2
Drama, Crime
Director: Shunji Iwai
Trailers
Description
Charts the troubled teenage years of students Yūichi Hasumi and Shūsuke Hoshino, exploring the shifting and complex power dynamics of their relationship against the backdrop of Yūichi's love for the dreamy and abstract music of pop star Lily Chou-Chou.
Budget:
$1.25M
US Gross:
$26,485
Worldwide:
$6.78M
Starring
Hayato Ichihara
Actor
Shûgo Oshinari
Actor
Ayumi Ito
Actor
Awards
Berlin International Film Festival 2002
— CICAE Award – Special Mention (Panorama)
Key opinion
All About Lily Chou-Chou is a haunting, stylistically bold exploration of teenage alienation and the cruelty of the Japanese school system. While its dreamlike aesthetic and evocative soundtrack are widely praised, the film's bleak, often brutal narrative remains deeply polarizing for viewers.
| Score | The ethereal, Debussy-inspired soundtrack serves as an essential, mood-perfect anchor for the film's melancholic tone. | |
| Cinematography | The elegant color palette and deliberate, dream-like camera work create a visually striking and uniquely immersive atmosphere. | |
| Theme | The film offers a raw, unflinching, and authentic depiction of the harsh realities of school bullying and teenage violence. | |
| Direction | The unconventional use of fan-chat messages integrated directly into the scenes serves as a bold, experimental stylistic choice that defines the viewing experience. | |
| Emotion | The narrative's relentless, unremitting bleakness divides viewers: some find it a profound reflection of the teenage condition, while others perceive it as gratuitously nihilistic and emotionally hollow. | |
| Screenplay | Opinions on the screenplay are split between those who find the fragmented, opaque character motivations to be a realistic reflection of youth, and those who find the plot incoherent and the characters unsympathetic. | |
| Runtime | The two-and-a-half-hour runtime creates a contemplative, trance-like state for some, while others find the pace to be frustratingly slow or exhausting. |