All About Lily Chou-Chou (2002) - Rotten Tomatoes

All About Lily Chou-Chou (2002)

TOMATOMETER

68%
71%

AUDIENCE SCORE

89%

Critic Consensus: No consensus yet.

Movie Info

Life isn't easy for a group of high school kids growing up absurd in Japan's pervasive pop/cyber culture. As they negotiate teen badlands- school bullies, parents from another planet, lurid snapshots of sex and death- these everyday rebels without a cause seek sanctuary, even salvation, through pop star savior Lily Chou-Chou, embracing her sad, dreamy songs and sharing their fears and secrets in Lilyholic chat rooms. Immersed in the speed of everyday troubles, their lives inevitably climax in a fatal collision between real and virtual identities, a final logging-off from innocence.

Cast

Hayato Ichihara
as Yuichi Hasumi
Shûgo Oshinari
as Shusuke Hoshino
Ayumi Ito
as Yoko Kuno
Takao Osawa
as Tahito Takao
Yû Aoi
as Shiori Tsuda
Miwako Ichikawa
Izumi Inamori
Aymi Ito
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Critic Reviews for All About Lily Chou-Chou

All Critics (38) | Top Critics (14)

For all of its insights into the dream world of teen life, and its electronic expression through cyber culture, the film gives no quarter to anyone seeking to pull a cohesive story out of its 2 1/2-hour running time.

March 21, 2003 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…
Top Critic

This movie is maddening. It conveys a simple message in a visual style that is willfully overwrought.

November 29, 2002 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…
Top Critic

Once you get into its rhythm ... the movie becomes a heady experience.

November 15, 2002 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
Top Critic

A hypnotic cyber hymn and a cruel story of youth culture.

September 20, 2002 | Rating: 3.5/4
Top Critic

While the story's undeniably hard to follow, Iwai's gorgeous visuals seduce.

August 30, 2002 | Rating: 3/4
Top Critic

Bravura, ambitious and profoundly disturbing. It is also a daunting, demanding experience, one whose complex structure makes it a challenge to track despite literate subtitles.

August 16, 2002 | Rating: 3/5
Top Critic
View All Critic Reviews (38)

Audience Reviews for All About Lily Chou-Chou

If watching other people's home movies, and chatlogs, about new age mumbo jumbo appeals to you, knock yourself out--but I was too bored to give this movie the kind of attention it demanded to follow its disjointed out-of-order scenes. 146 minutes was way too much for me on this one.

Cynthia S.
Cynthia S.

Super Reviewer

Shunji Iwai's All About Lily Chou-Chou is one of those films that stands out on its own.

The story is quite unique and so is the writing, but this film is not for everybody. It shows how music can be a place for people to seek sanctuary from their everyday lives. The story can be tough to get into and the run time is just under 2 and a half hours. The first hour and the last 30 minutes are the better parts, while the middle tends to drag.

With that said, Shunji Iwai's directing makes this worth watching. For the most part, the camerawork is great. The cyber texting element that Iwai employs consistently throughout the picture is also a creative element worthy of note.

Hayato Ichihara's character is a bit bland, but he works well with what he has. The rest of the supporting cast is also good. Shugo Oshinari, Aoi Yu, and Ayumi Ito stand out the most. Takao Osawa also shows up with a funny character.

All About Lily Chou-Chou may only be the best film to some, but it is one of those movies that sticks with nearly every other viewer for a good amount of time. If only once, this is one to consider watching.

JY Skacto
JY Skacto

Super Reviewer

½

all about teen angst and the need to make connections and sense of the world. good cinematography, strange narrative structure. it will frustrate alot of people but i liked it. debussy reinforced the impressionist tone. could've used some cutting tho

Stella Dallas
Stella Dallas

Super Reviewer

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All About Lily Chou-Chou Quotes

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