What is the pioneering nature of “All About Lily Chou-Chou” that continues to create new trends?

"All About Lily Chou-Chou" synopsis

A local city with beautiful countryside. Yuichi Hasumi (Hayato Ichihara), a second year middle school student, is bullied by his former best friend, Hoshino (Shugo Oshinari), and spends his days feeling suffocated. The only saving grace is the singing voice of charismatic songstress Lily Chou-Chou. The only time I was able to be my true self was when I was on the fan site ``Liliphilia'' that I ran...

Index

• A 14-year-old's closed-off world depicted with overwhelming emotion
• Shunji Iwai's classic image took root in the 1990s
• "All About Lily Chou-Chou" children of the younger generation
• Elements of “All About Lily Chou-Chou” that lead to the present day

A 14-year-old's closed-off world depicted with overwhelming emotion

Lily ChouChou was born into this world on December 8, 1980, the day John Lennon was assassinated. The Japanese movie ``All About Lily Chou-Chou'', released on October 6, 2001, is a story about a boy and a girl who revolve around this fictional charismatic diva (played by Salyu, a new singer at the time, who hardly appears in the movie). This is our story. Yuichi Hasumi (Hayato Ichihara), a second-year middle school student, is subjected to unreasonable bullying from his classmate Shusuke Hoshino (Shugo Oshinari) and others. Yuichi's only emotional support is the music of Lily ChouChou, whom he worships with all his heart and soul. He tries to shoplift the newly released album `` Respiration '' from a CD shop (TSUTAYA) in front of Utsunomiya station.

For Yuichi, even the anecdote that Lily Chouchou was born to replace Lennon when he died is not important. He writes passionate reviews of Lily Chou Chou under the handle ``Filia.'' "She doesn't need anyone else's music. She conceives and gives birth to music. Amniotic fluid called ether nourishes her music. That's all."

“All About Lily Chou-Chou” trailer

Centering around this lonely boy, this work depicts the pain-filled world of a 14-year-old with overwhelming emotion, like screams and screams. It's as if the glittering façade of school life has been peeled away to reveal a grotesque internal organ. In Yuichi's class, a ``negative chain'' swirls around both boys and girls. For example, Shiori Tsuda (Yu Aoi), who has a weakness for Hoshino, is forced into a supportive relationship and becomes mentally ill. Yoko Kuno (Ayumu Ito), who was raped by Hoshino's group, shows a resolute attitude by going to school the next day with a shaved head.

Their daily life is like a battlefield. In the suburbs of a seemingly idyllic local city, a reversal of perpetrator and victim, darkness in the heart, and suicide, which adults do not know, occurs secretly. It's 146 minutes long, but it's much more voluminous than most blockbusters, and it's heavy on your body. It gives the impression of a Monster symphony with tremendous sound pressure.

Director Shunji Iwai declared at the time of this work's announcement, ``If I could choose a posthumous work, I would choose this one.'' As these words suggest, since then he has produced far fewer works than before, when he had been releasing works at an energetic pace.