so i watch this movie at summer time it was kinda long like 2 hour 40 min but this movie was best it just shows some of my lifetime about bully something.inside of me just enjoy watching this movie and i hate myself so much. and i just thought youth is kinda hard one of the most complicated moment in ur life.but i still enjoy so much most heartbreaking scene was kite.after seeing that she wanted she wanted to enter ether i actually have no idea...

I watched Lily Chou-Chou last night and was mesmerized and deeply moved by it. The use of lighting and shadow instantly produce a subject-less nostalgia, sort of a yearning without knowing what one is yearning for. Perhaps these youth yearned for a purpose. Confusion about identity is central to this film, and I felt a very helpless feeling throughout. The music, especially the song 'Kaifuku Suru Kizu' was very haunting. I don't know if it was the notion of 'ethereal music' placed at the beginning meant to trick the viewer into hearing something that isn't there, or if the music really contained an 'otherness'-either way, I felt something I hadn't before when I heard it. The song's been stuck in my head all day. Overall a soul-crushing movie that still remains realistic despite its dreamy feel. I think it accurately portrays the chaos of ideas and meanings and meaninglessness of our modern age colliding with human emotion. 8/10.

All About Lily Chou-Chou is possibly the hardest film to write a review about. Shunji Iwai has made a killer film here, but it's quite emotionally challenging to sit through. But, maybe that's because I'm a big softie at heart. The first film to be filmed with a digital camera? Can it really be that good? Yes, yes it can. Welcome to the new world of film-making.The film follows Yûichi Hasumi (Hayato Ichihara), a teenager who slowly gets sucked into a local gang of teenagers. However, the heart of the film is about his taste in music. Lily Chou-Chou, his idol, was born exactly after John Lennon was shot dead. Her fans believe she is high on the 'Ether', a substance supposedly everywhere, it holds spiritual value, but there is no scientific evidence to prove it's there. This helps her write the songs she does. Yûichi runs a website for her fans, in the form of a BBS where they can share their love for her.Confused yet?While doing that, he's stealing, mugging and pimping for the local gang that he's stuck in. The gang leader is Shusuke Hoshino (Shûgo Oshinari) began as the class geek, but soon after his parents split up, he slowly turns into a psychotic bully. There's also Yôko Kuno (Ayumi Ito), an incredible pianist who is being bullied by a large group of classmates.It's all bound to get ugly, and it does. But I'll leave the specific details for when you sit down and watch the film. But the film itself doesn't appeal to everyone. The film is incredibly slow, so people watching just for the violence will possibly find this the most difficult film to watch. The best way to explain this film would be that it's just real life inside a DVD. It's like watching someone else's life, so expect some slow-paced action.But the film is beautiful, perhaps painfully beautiful. The film isn't the usual type, when you watch the film, it's not a film where you have a little cry because the film is sad. This film is distressing. Kunos scene at the warehouse is incredibly hard to watch, it's quite heart breaking. But also beautiful, with the sweetest piano music playing over the top. Painfully beautiful, although the scenes can be quite distressing, but it keeps the beauty all through the film.As I said, it's possibly the hardest film to write about.The music in the film is great, Lily Chou-Chous music could be described as a mix between Bjork and Thom Yorke. Her vocals soothe over the troubled scenes.Overall the film is a distressing look into life as a teenager. There are theories that the film is not about Japanese teenagers at all. Rather, its portrayal of extreme violence, honour and sub-ordinance, cruelty and beauty may be an examination of adult psychology. One of my favourite films of recent years, and sits in the number four spot of my Top Ten. I'd advise you to watch it. It's really very good, but only if you can sit through it.

I watched All About Lily Chou-Chou on about the end of my high school life and I must say that I was moved with the entire story and Shunji Iwai's brilliance.First off, the music was excellent - Salyu (or Lily) has this ethereal voice that haunts me every time the movie comes into mind, strengthening the entire atmosphere of the movie.It also shows the usual Japanese high school dimension of bullying which is very common, but the movie just shows a more intense depth to it.What makes the movie tick for me I guess would be that the main character (Yuuichi) although predominantly a shy and quiet boy, he developed through the various circumstances and thus leads to the end (which I will not spoil.) I can say that the pace of the movie is just enough to make you feel the emotions the characters portray given minimalistic dialogue and instead replaced by revolving BBS messages and lush green scenery.I give it a 10 out of 10 for everything - cinematography, plot, music. A movie that's so superb like this should be watched by everyone.