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Poster for All About Lily Chou-Chou

All About Lily Chou-Chou

Pain can take you in prison. The ether can set you free.

2001 · 2h 26m · Unrated Crime, Drama
Directed by Shunji Iwai

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Overview

Charts the troubled teenage years of students Yūichi Hasumi and Shūsuke Hoshino, exploring the shifting and complex power dynamics of their relationship against the backdrop of Yūichi's love for the dreamy and abstract music of pop star Lily Chou-Chou.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
68%
Tomatometer
Rotten

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.

Peter Howell, Toronto Star
Rotten

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

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Fresh

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

Jonathan Curiel, San Francisco Chronicle
Fresh

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

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
Fresh

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

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times

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