All About Lily Chou-Chou "

(aka "All About Lily Chou Chou" or "Riri Shushu no subete" or "Lily Chou-Chou no subete")

directed by Shunji Iwai
Japan 2001

Wildly popular filmmaker Shunji Iwai breaks a three-year hiatus following his less than successful April Story with this elliptical drama about teenaged alienation, violence, and celebrity. The film centers on Yuichi Hasumi (Hayato Ichihara), an eighth grader who lives in a sleepy town in rural Japan with his mother, her boyfriend, and the boyfriend's son. At school he is beaten up and harassed by his former friend Hoshino. In order to scrape up the cash to meet Hoshino's daily extortion demand, Yuichi resorts to petty theft and shoplifting. At home he finds sanctuary with his favorite singer Lily Chou-Chou, for whom he has devoted a website called "Liliphilia." One day, he encounters on the net a fellow Lily-phile who goes by the handle "blue cat." As Hoshino's power grows, he demands that Yuichi tail fellow classmate Shiori Tsuda (Yu Aoi), who he is pimping out to older men. Yuichi's suffocating situation at school leads him to consider suicide, something he confesses to "blue cat" -- his only confidant. Things come to a head tragically at a long awaited Lily Chou-Chou concert. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival.

***

"What a trip! Style is typical Iwai, but the story is nothing like his previous works. Some scenes are quite hard to watch, something I didn't expect. Very dark and sad film start to finish. Extremely powerful and highly stylized images and the music is just amazing. What impressed me the most is how the film appears to be cut with almost mathematical efficiency, which is quite impressive for a film that runs almost two and a half hour. There's no filler anywhere, every shot has meaning is important to the story. Scenes begin and end abruptly, not wasting time on form. "

Jeff

Poster

Theatrical Release: 6 October 2001

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The Japan Journals : 1947-2004,

by Donald Richie

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by Lafcadio Hearn

The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film
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Kon Ichikawa (Cinematheque Ontario Monographs)

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From Book to Screen: Modern Japanese Literature in Films
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Shohei Imamura (Cinematheque Ontario Monographs, No. 1)
by James Quandt

Eros Plus Massacre: An Introduction to the Japanese New Wave Cinema (Midland Book, Mb 469)
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A Hundred Years of Japanese Film by Donald Richie

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DVD Comparison:

Home Vision - Region 1- NTSC vs. Panorama (HK) - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Norman's Nose (JP) - Region 2 - NTSC vs. Optimum (UK) - Region 2 - PAL

Big thanks to Geert Jan Alsem and Jeroen for all the Screen Caps!

(Home Vision - Region 1- NTSC LEFT vs. Panorama (HK) - Region 0 - NTSC - 2nd vs. Norman's Nose (JP) - Region 2 - NTSC - 3rd vs. Optimum (UK) - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)

Box Covers
Distribution	Home Vision Region 1 - NTSC	Panorama Region 0 - NTSC	Norman's Nose Region 2 - NTSC	Optimum Region 2 - PAL	Film Movement - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	2:25:55	2:20:09 (4% PAL speedup)	2:26:05	2:26:05	2:26:05
Video	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.31 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 6.95 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 7.17 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.49 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 40,706,140,978 bytes Feature: 25,508,333,568 bytes Video Bitrate: 30.79 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Home Vision
Bitrate: Panorama (HK)
Bitrate: Norman's Nose (JP)
Bitrate: Optimum (UK)
Bitrate: Blu-ray
Audio	Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)	Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0 surround	Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0 surround	Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 surround	D
Subtitles	English, None	English, Chinese, None	Japanese, None NO ENGLISH!	English (non-removable)	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Home Vision Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Making of Documentary • Director biography and filmography • Trailer reel • Essay by director Shunji Iwai • Music Video: "Wings That Can't Fly" DVD Release Date: February 15th, 2005 Chapters 24	Release Information: Studio: Panorama Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Edition Details: none DVD Release Date: March 17th, 2003 Chapters 12	Release Information: Studio: Norman's Nose Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • I believe the 2 disc version is out of print, so no extra features on the single disc. DVD Release Date: unknown Chapters 28	Release Information: Studio: Optimum Aspect Ratio: Widescreen letterboxed - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Theatrical trailer DVD Release Date: July 28th, 2003 Chapters 16	Release Information: Studio: Film Movement 2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 40,706,140,978 bytes Feature: 25,508,333,568 bytes Video Bitrate: 30.79 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • An Angel in the Marshes (27:06) • Interview with Jean-Claude Carriere (24:51) • Q+A with Jean-Claude Carriere (51:52) Blu-ray Release Date: May 3rd, 2018 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 12

Comments

If you don't need English subtitles, the R2 JP has by far the best picture quality. The new Home Vision looks only marginally better than the Panorama (HK) edition. The R2 UK is non-anamorphic and has burned in subtitles, which are not 16X9 friendly.

The NTSC (HK) DVD has a 4% speedup. As far as definitive English-friendly releases go, I suspect the Home Vision is best, but it looks so dark and hazy it is hard to give it the nod of any approval. This beautiful movie shouldn't be seen with such dark and washed out colors as are in the Panorama and Home Vision. What a shame.

The translation on all three English subtitled releases are the same. I'd wait for a superior release, although I don't know of one coming soon. many true fans will use DVDSubber and follow a script with the Japanese release. Although I love Iwai, I won't be doing that.

- Geert Jan Alsem and Gary Tooze

DVD Menus

(Home Vision - Region 1- NTSC LEFT vs. Panorama (HK) - Region 0 - NTSC - RIGHT)

(Norman's Nose (JP) - Region 2 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Optimum (UK) - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)

Subtitle sample