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To me, this movie is perfection.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

"All About Lily Chou-Chou" is a riveting and often disturbing drama centered on a group of teenagers in Japan. The plot follows multiple protagonists, all of them teenagers, who go through various rites of passage to reaffirm themselves amongst their teen counterparts. It's very much a secluded world with its own rules and rulers. While the characters' personas may differ in real life, there seems to be a strong element uniting them – the worship of enigmatic singer Lily Chou-Chou. As the alienated teenagers wander aimlessly throughout the film, Lily Chou Chou's melodies seem to be the only element that brings their lives some sort of harmony – which makes the soundtrack one of the real highlights of the film.The visual style is also distinctive: The plot is intercut between the characters school life and an on-screen text telling us what is being said in a Lily Chou-Chou online chat room - juxtaposing the different identities the teenagers have online and in the real world. The camera-work is peculiar yet effective: It is mostly hand-held and has a sort of dreamy/documentary type look, often times gliding through the scenes with certain Malick-like qualities.My main issue with the film was with the characters development: some of the characters aren't as well step up and their actions go from being unpredictable to borderline implausible. Some change too much and others too little and you end up not really caring for the individual parts as much as you probably should.I took "All about Lily Chou-Chou" as a frightening and raw depiction of adolescence in the current cyber age landscape. Though it may sometimes feel disjointed and hard to follow, if you take it as a whole it is still an interesting and often entrancing depiction of the tribulations of this new-tech generation.

If there ever was a production that fit the definition, look and feel of a cult film then All About Lily Chou-Chou would be it. Filmed in Ashikaga in Tochigi Prefecture this film did well upon release in Japan in 2001, but it was the subsequent export, mystique and international fandom that have kept the ethereal film alive. There are many ways to describe 'Lily Chou-Chou Is Everything' (Riri Shushu No Subete in Japanese) and none of them would point to anything remotely mainstream or Hollywood-esque. It is a feel-bad movie that is nihilistic to the extreme, original and catches one off-guard and, independent of that depiction, there is a reasonable debate (in my mind anyway) as to whether it is good. The story revolves around the fanatics of the mythical artist Lily Chou-Chou whose art, to her fans and members of a website whose chat room message are integral and elucidating, is beyond anything merely terrestrial and is often described as embodying the 'ether.' Her fans live and breathe within the ether firstly because she is that sublime and secondly as an escape mechanism from the toll it takes to be a teenage high school student of fourteen in modern Japan. The students are perpetrators and victims of bullying, oppression, alienation, angst, prostitution, corruption and disregarded by a hopeless cadre of teachers and parents. Banish those images of Japan as an orderly and organized society with a disciplined and respectable school system. To be fair, however, whether anyone - including myself - really 'gets' this film is another matter. It comes across as lifelike, and partly due to the documentary-style camera-work which is most observable in the Okinawa and kendo sequences, but it is deliberately cryptic, open to interpretation and even ends without something as definite as one is expecting - perhaps as a nod to life in modern society in general. Incidentally, the travel to Okinawa, and its aftermath, is the most unrealistic. The money may have been procured through ill-begotten means, but what about the time, opportunity and parental permissions? Would one subsequently change so drastically? As if there was not enough confusion the film incorporates flashbacks. The pompous and simultaneously enlightening All About Lily Chou-Chou is filmed long and like a stream of consciousness and, if nothing else, will make one hate the younger generation and its enablers. I always thought striking imagery, penetrating story lines and intense music make for perfect films - think Blade Runner or Kill Bill or Lost in Translation - and this film has it all. The added element, however, is the extra disturbing content for which there is no preparation. On the flip side, All About Lily Chou-Chou's music is a success and laudable. With the film revolving around a recording artist it might be expected, but the alternative ambiance of Lily, as performed by the as-of-then unknown Salyu, is perfect for the concept of the 'ether' and for the suffocating world in which the anti-heroes live. While we are on the subject the film and Lily were inspired by Chinese singress Faye Wong. Lily/Salyu's Kaifuku No Kizu was included/mumbled in the film Kill Bill to boot. French composer Debussy's work is also prominently featured. Did I learn anything or know anything definitive from this film? Well, datsu or Needlefish is called Shijar in Okinawa. North is 'nishi,' east is 'agari,'south is 'fue' and west is iri.' Everything else is open to interpretation... On a good day Japan bewilders most people. All About Lily Chou-Chou out-bewilders the bewilderment.

When recent footage of Florida teen Victoria Lindsay being attacked by classmates in her home was posted on YouTube, it generated overwhelming public outrage and condemnation. Much debate ensued regarding not only the current state of the youth culture in America but the increasing escalation of teen violence and instances of aggressive bullying particularly "cyber bullying". Nowhere is that more apparent than in Japan, where cases of "ijime" (bullying) have been extreme and notorious. Every year, there are cases of Japanese teens taking their own lives rather than face the daily persecutions from their classmates and tormentors which involve everything from physical and emotional abuse, extortion of money, public humiliation and harassment, and even death threats via cellphone or computer email. In recent years schools have tried to take a more aggressive stance on the problem and recent TV J-Doramas, like the powerful "Watashi Tachi No Kyokashou" and "Life" have also attempted to bring awareness to the issue beyond the classroom.Director Iwai Shunji tackles this sensitive subject in his thought-provoking 2001 film "Lily Chou-Chou No Subete" (All About Lily Chou-Chou). While the title suggests a film detailing the life of the movie's fictional enigmatic and ethereal songstress Lily (singer Salya), the film's actual focus is on childhood friends Shusuke Hoshino and Yuichi Hasumi (portrayed by Oshinari Shugo and Ichihara Hayato) junior high school classmates in the Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture. Their aimless and mischievous days are spent in the committing of various acts of petty theft, often instigated by Hoshino (they steal some company bonds from a sleeping old man and shoplift some CDs from a bookstore to sell back to a local pawnshop). It is at this pawnshop that Hasumi encounters a billboard poster publicizing one of the aforementioned singer Lilly Chou-Chou's CD albums. Enamored by the poster, he takes it home with him and quickly discovers the singer's website "Lilyholic", a site devoted to the singer and her eclectic brand of "etheral" music (French Impressionist composer Achille-Claude Debussy and flamboyant Icelandic singer Bjork are named as kindred spirits). Lily's music touches Hasumi in a way that nothing has before and his now hopeless life begins to take some meaning and he develops an almost religious devotion to her music. Yet this happiness soon gives way to a number of hardships. Hasumi is called out by Hoshino and then humiliated and forced to masturbate in public by Hoshio's older friends. He also suffers the trauma of having his beloved Lily CD destroyed by the bullies.We also come to know more about Hoshino's life. While he is blessed with a relatively happy home life with a pampering young mother (played by the fetching Inamori Izumi), a good reputation at school and an active social life with the school's Kendo club, he still can't seem to find much happiness in life.Stealing money from an attempted mugging incident, Hoshino decides to go on a trip to Okinawa with Hasumi and other friends in an attempt to find some sort of spiritual awakening. However, after a near drowning incident and witnessing the suicide attempt of a fellow friendly traveler, he becomes a completely different person. Nihilistic and coldly indifferent to life he soon orchestrates a number of cruel and humiliating acts on fellow classmates - he arranges to have honor student and piano protégé Kuno Yoko (Ito Ayumi) raped at his father's abandoned factor and coerces another student, Tsuda Shiori (Aoi Yu) into "enjo kosai" (arranged dating for money).Hoshino however gets his comeuppance when he cheats Hasumi out of his beloved Lily concert ticket and meets a grim if not tragic end at the hands of his former friend. "All About Lily Chou-Chou" shares a lot of its dark tone with Larry Clark's controversial "Kids" and similarly themed "Bully" movies. Like those movies, Iwai's film portrays adolescent life as being very unforgiving to some especially those who seem weaker and/or different.While Iwai's masterful direction, inventive storytelling and intricately complicated script makes the movie an interesting experience, it is the superb performances from the young cast that are indeed the standout.Oshinari Shugo (Battle Royale II, Aoi Haru) gives a compelling performance as Hoshino. He is certainly a hateful character but he is also a somewhat tragic figure and we can only feel sad to see his character's gradual decline from good natured albeit manipulative tough boy to violent, domineering thug. Ichihara Hayato's (Niji No Megami, Ju-On 2) performance is also equally multi-faceted. His Hasumi in no atypical "emo" character but rather a tortured soul wanting to find some sort of purpose in life. Lily is his "goddress/muse" and her songs act as his "bible" to understanding and dealing with an uncertain world. Aoi Yu (Gaichu, Hana & Alice) delivers another great performance as ill-fated Tsuda Shiori. Aoi has a special knack at making her minor roles standout and that is again the case here. Ito Ayumi's (Swallowtail & Butterfly, Curtain Call) performance as Kuno Yoko is also quite impressive. Ito does admirable work here and it is all the more amazing when one learns that she played all her own piano performances and spent several weeks mastering Debussy's complicated "Arabesque No. 1", one of the song highlights of the film.Cinematographer Shinoda Noboru's beautiful digital camera work was absolutely breathtaking and added an almost dream-like quality to the story. "All About Lily..." is sometimes confusing in its non-linear approach to storytelling and in its novel use of BBS chat inserts that help move the narrative but the somber tone of the film along with the cautionary look at bullying, obsession and indifference deliver a stark and powerful message to the viewer.

Although it disturbed me greatly to think that Japanese adolescents might be struggling with these issues and events (seems kids all over the developed world are in a similar boat), I am glad I saw this film. It's beautifully made, the acting is stellar, and the music is gorgeous. The fact that it grew out of a project begun on the internet, where real people's experiences and reactions were integral, just makes it more meaningful. I recommend it highly.If, however, you are a parent or other adult who shares it with younger people, make sure to discuss it during and/or afterwards. I don't think kids should be prevented from seeing films like this - the issues in them are far too close to home for them. But, I do think that it's important not to leave them hanging in the wind without a way to process the violence, sexual and otherwise, or their reactions to it, pro or con.