All About Lily Chou-Chou

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

2001 2h 26m JA

🙌

7.5

BANGER

★7.5TMDB · 325

DramaCrime

Synopsis

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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.

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

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Cast

Hayato Ichihara
Yūichi Hasumi
Shugo Oshinari
Shūsuke Hoshino
Yu Aoi
Shiori Tsuda
Ayumi Ito
Yōko Kuno
Issey Takahashi
Ikeda-senpai
Ryo Katsuji
Shioske Terawaki
Takao Osawa
Tabito Takao
Tomohiro Kaku
Masashi Tadano

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Shunji Iwai
Writers: Shunji Iwai
Languages: Japanese
Countries: Japan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 5.4× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

25 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "いわいしゅんじ Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Shunji Iwai, shot by Noboru Shinoda. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Takeshi Kobayashi. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Shunji Iwai shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Hayato Ichihara and Shugo Oshinari and Yu Aoi carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Shunji Iwai directs. Noboru Shinoda behind the camera. Takeshi Kobayashi scores. Shunji Iwai cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $1.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Made its money back 5.4× over at the box office.
325 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Part of the "いわいしゅんじ Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by Shunji Iwai, shot by Noboru Shinoda. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Takeshi Kobayashi. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Shunji Iwai shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Hayato Ichihara and Shugo Oshinari and Yu Aoi carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Pain can take you in prison. The ether can set you free.".
10IMDB entry: tt0297721 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 15 themes, including "suicide", "japan", "bullying", "okinawa".