Liz and the Blue Bird

"The truth will break your heart."

2018 1h 31m JA

🙌

7.5

BANGER

🍅

83%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

7.2

IMDB

★7.5TMDB · 165🍅83%Rotten Tomatoes●67Metacritic★7.2IMDB · 2,785

AnimationDramaMusic

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In their last year of high school, two girls in the brass band club perform a song inspired by a fairy tale that parallels their friendship.

“The truth will break your heart.”

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Cast

Atsumi Tanezaki
Mizore Yoroizuka (voice)
Nao Toyama
Nozomi Kasaki (voice)
Ayaka Asai
Hazuki Katou (voice)
Tomoyo Kurosawa
Kumiko Oumae (voice)
Chika Anzai
Reina Kousaka (voice)
Yuichi Nakamura
Masahiro Hashimoto (voice)
Conomi Fujimura
Natsuki Nakagawa (voice)
Takahiro Sakurai
Noboru Taki (voice)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Naoko Yamada
Writers: Naoko Yamada, Reiko Yoshida
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

ERA

Did you know

Released 8 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Sound! Euphonium Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Naoko Yamada, shot by Kazuya Takao. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Atsumi Tanezaki and Nao Toyama and Ayaka Asai carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The truth will break your heart.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt7089878 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Naoko Yamada directs. Kazuya Takao behind the camera. Kensuke Ushio scores. Kengo Shigemura cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 8 years ago.
2Part of the "Sound! Euphonium Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
3Directed by Naoko Yamada, shot by Kazuya Takao. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Kensuke Ushio. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Kengo Shigemura shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Atsumi Tanezaki and Nao Toyama and Ayaka Asai carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "The truth will break your heart.".
8IMDB entry: tt7089878 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 13 themes, including "japan", "based on novel or book", "fairy tale", "brass band".
10Released under 14 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Kazuya Takao
Original score: Kensuke Ushio
Editing: Kengo Shigemura
Runtime: 91 min · 1h 31m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $737,286
Original language: JA
IMDB: Liz and the Blue Bird (2018)
Rotten Tomatoes: 83% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 67/100
IMDB rating: 7.2/10 · 2,785 votes

Awards

1 win & 4 nominations total

Part of

Sound! Euphonium Collection

Now that Kumiko Oumae has enrolled in Kitauji High School, she hopes to forget about her past. Despite her desire for a fresh start, she gets dragged into the school's band club by her new friends—Sapphire Kawashima and Hazuki Katou—and is once again stuck playing the euphonium.