Unfortunately, I didn't see Shunji Iwai's All About Lily Chou-Chou when it was released theatrically by Cowboy Pictures in 2002 following its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival, but I finally caught up with the film via Home Vision Entertainment's DVD release this past weekend.

This is one of the most stylistically innovative and haunting films I have seen in quite some time. Focusing on the devotees of a fictitious Japanese pop star who communicate through a fansite bulletin board, director Shunji Iwai originally conceived the idea of exploring the world around a teen pop star after attending a Faye Wong concert in Hong Kong and witnessing the almost religious devotion of her fans. Although he initially wrote all of the BBS entries himself as an experiment in creative writing, the imaginary Lily Chou-Chou fansite soon obtained a cult following, and Iwai's creation took on a life of its own as more and more people began writing in to debate the ideas explored in her (non-existent) music.

Iwai never finished the novel he set out to write; instead, he adapted the BBS entries to fashion a screenplay based on the Lily Chou-Chou phenomenon, in which isolated teenage fans communicate anonymously about the singer before finally converging at one of her concerts, at which one of them is mysteriously murdered.

As Anthony Leong writes in his review of the film: "Several years in the making and having gone through multiple incarnations (including an unfinished novel and an on-line forum), All About Lily Chou-Chou is a film that confronts the destructive power of teen alienation in modern-day Japan head-on."

Iwai himself says, "This new film looks in uncompromising details at the everyday life of 14-year-old teens, as blunt and direct a blow to the body."
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# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 2/22/2005 11:47:00 AM

Comments (2)

 
i was blown away by this film when i saw it. it was superb in capturing the sheer essence of modern japanese culture. the fate of the talented pianist was at its heart and .. heart rending. i forget what it was about the camera work or technique that conveyed the greens of those rice paddies or whatever -- are unforgettable. i spent five years of my life fathoming japan and it made me
more aware of visual language
than anything. - philippa
# posted by  Anonymous @ 2/22/2005 5:31 PM  

 
I just devoured the thing, and it's some kind of classic. I hope to review it by the end of next week on my site.
# posted by  Ray Pride @ 2/22/2005 7:56 PM  

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