All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001)
Written by guest blogger HalfHindu
Sometimes, when you’re at a particular time in your life, in
a particular state - certain movies can speak to you. It may literally seem to
have been made for you. They resonate with you, they can strike a chord with you,
making all your emotions rush forth like caged demons, rush forth into blinding
clarity. Some movies can help you understand yourself.
That’s what happened with the movie All About Lily Chou-Chou
and I this year.
Released in 2001,directed by the amazingly talented Shunji
Iwai ,All About Lily Chou-Chou is a Japanese film dealing with the beautiful
intricacies lives of a couple of teenagers growing up in the
industrial/technological haze of culture and all-permeating media that was the
1990s.
It is a confusing movie. It’s one of the most confusing
movies in the (rather small) list of movies I've ever watched. Featuring a
discontinuous story line and jarring cuts between scenes, it may be difficult to
make out what is going on, but in the end, it is worth it. Oh so worth it. Or
maybe it’s just me.
The scenes are frequented by white-on-black text - messages
on a BBS board, which really brought out the nostalgia. I haven’t used a BBS
board in years.
It also explores music as escapism, which is all it really
is. “The Ether heals your pain.”
The movie riddled with shots of unimaginably poignant
serenity, those were what really spoke to me. They had me sitting slack-jawed in
front of my monitor, Time stopped and for a moment all that existed was a
terrible sadness. Words can’t describe the base, visceral reaction I get from
the last scene - with all the characters in the rice fields together, CD players in hand. As if nothing ever happened. As if everything was normal.
The film employ’s a brilliant soundtrack which no doubt was
a key factor in evoking such emotion. Piano music always will.
I’m not pigeonholing it as a depressing drama. It is so much
more. It is the stark representation of life that is so rare in cinema lately. It
was a beautiful experience.
Or maybe it’s just me.
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