My somewhat conflicted comments on All About Lily Chou-Chou 

An oblique coming-of-age film from Japanese director Shunji Iwai, All About Lily Chou-Chou tracks its quiet young protagonist named Yuichi (Hayato Ichihara) over a 3-year span. His life changes quite a bit during that time but nothing takes away from his love of Lily, a pop-star through whom Yuichi seems to find his own voice. Lily is never seen in the film but her presence is prevalent throughout in a message board which constantly updates at the bottom of the screen and it becomes apparent that all the participants wake-up and go-to-sleep with Lily on their minds. Yuichi's best friend, Hoshino (Shugo Oshinari), also grows up alongside Yuichi but from a shy young boy he ends up becoming a violent pimp. Many of their activities shown have the brutality of a Larry Clark film but none of its paranoia. No doubt that the film is a visceral experience but it only engages your mind intermittently. Awai is a commercial filmmaker with a background in music-videos and he certainly doesn't mind showing off his skills, but one wishes that he wouldve paid more attention to the subject matter at hand. Awai's showcasing of the pop-culture phenomenon which has invaded Japan is certainly honorable. Japan continues to have one of the highest suicide rate among teens and theres an honest enough attempt here to capture the alienation and the residual affects of modernization but it remains a modish effort; however, Awais use of DV is one of the best I've ever seen. 

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