Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Shunji Iwai's coming-of-age film All About Lily Chou-Chou is an unusual stream of melancholic images accompanied by dreamy music and overexposed imagery which renders this entire experience as a jumbled collection of fuzzy memories held together by a string of message board posts from a certain blog. It's a loose story about increasing alienation and the effects it has on adolescents, who start to escape the real world issues through the Ether, a mystical state of mind provided to them by a (fictional) pop singer, Lily Chou-Chou. The characters are as complex as they are abstract and simple. The plot is completely out of the picture. The only thing that matters here is the atmosphere.And does the film succeed in conveying an ethereal atmosphere? Well, not really. Certain scenes do hit their mark but most of the time, you feel the movie's length and the drifting, unsteady cinematic style is far too removed from the ground for its own good. Sure, there are beautiful moments here and there, as is the soundtrack, but overall the movie feels weak, watered down, incapable of building a memorable world.From: mevmijaumauREWIND

All About Lily Chou-Chou is a movie that deals in teenaged alienation and admiration. Based around a fictional popstar named Lily Chou-Chou, the characters inhibit a sense of realism that makes the movie perfectly palatable to a bigger audience. However on a technical term, the movie brings together a number of creative methods. The emails (or messageboard) that are strewn throughout display a strong realisation of our admiration towards such media personas. It also explores the idolism we give out to people that influence and connect with us through an art form, which in this case is music.Some of the scenes can be confusing as there is not too much coherence throughout the movie in terms of a plot line however we see scenes of suburban torment, beautiful acres of green fields that are superbly shot and long shots of beaches and the sea. Also contained in the movie is two opposing sides of teenaged life; care-free fun and angst-filled isolation. The story of Kuno is a sad one, we see her raped and see her head shaven which ends up leading to her death. We also see classroom violence which may very well be exaggerated for melancholic effect but definitely has a profound influence on the viewer.A lot of things about this movie make it an interesting watch but my only concern with it is that maybe it's too long. Due to the 146 or so minute runtime, there are times where I felt parts could be cut down. The padding out the director has took with the movie does take away from the enjoyment of it and perhaps with a little more editing, I would find the movie more engrossing. However, the film does generate a good amount of interesting scenes and relatable characters which doesn't make the movie a chore to watch. Nothing here is challenging except for the overkilled duration. But with the right state of mind, one may enjoy the floating camera shots of urban and rural Japan.

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.