Linda Linda Linda
Linda Linda Linda | |
---|---|
Directed by | Nobuhiro Yamashita |
Produced by |
Hiroyuki Negishi Yuji Sadai |
Written by |
Kōsuke Mukai Wakako Miyashita Nobuhiro Yamashita |
Starring |
Bae Doona Aki Maeda Yu Kashii Shiori Sekine |
Music by |
James Iha The Blue Hearts Base Ball Bear Shione Yukawa |
Cinematography | Yoshihiro Ikeuchi |
Distributed by | Covers&Co |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 114 minutes |
Language | Japanese |
Linda Linda Linda (リンダ リンダ リンダ) is a 2005 Japanese film. Its name comes from Japanese punk band The Blue Hearts' hit song "Linda Linda". The film was directed by Nobuhiro Yamashita and stars Aki Maeda, Yu Kashii, and Shiori Sekine as the band members, and Bae Doona as a South Korean exchange student. The students' band, Paranmaum (Korean for "The Blue Hearts"), released a CD single in Japan and Korea entitled We Are Paranmaum.
The film is licensed for the US market by VIZ Media. A subtitled DVD was released on May 8, 2007.[1]
Plot
A group of high school girls decide to put together a band for Hiiragi-sai, their school cultural festival. Three days before they are to play the festival, the guitarist and singer quit the band. The remaining members, Kei Tachibana (立花恵 Tachibana Kei), Kyoko Yamada (山田 響子 Yamada Kyōko), and Nozomi Shirakawa (白河望 Shirakawa Nozomi) decide to perform covers of Blue Hearts songs, but need to find a new singer. They ask the first girl that walks by - Son (ソン), a Korean exchange student. Son is not fluent in Japanese, and this leads to some misunderstandings, but through sharing in the ins and outs of high school life, they are able to understand one another. The first day ends with all the girls working their hardest to learn their parts. Son practices at a karaoke parlor, and Kyoko talks to her crush, Kazuya Oe (大江一也 Ōe Kazuya).
The next day, they begin practicing early at school, and Kei struggles to play the guitar. When they regroup after school, Kyoko arrives late and they miss their time slot. Kei calls her ex-boyfriend and manages to get her group over to "Studio Q" to practice. They leave late at night to return to school, and continue practicing through the rest of the night.
By the next morning, they are on their way to performing well. As school begins, the girls go to their respective places to help out during the festival. Kei continues to practice and master her guitar parts and talks to one of her rocker friends, Takako. Son is supposed to be helping with the Japan/Korea Culture Exchange, but daydreams about the band. Kyoko is assumed to have gone back to selling crepes, and Nozomi falls asleep on her bass guitar in one of her teacher's classrooms. By mid-afternoon, Kei and Kyoko wake up a reluctant Nozomi and go to fetch Son. There, after waking her up, they find that she received a note in Korean to go to the equipment room where Mackey wanted to ask her out. However, in the spirit of the band, Son comically walked out, and they enjoyed a dinner at Nozomi's house where Kyoko was convinced to talk to Oe about going on a date. Kyoko agrees to talk to him the next day, one hour before the performance. They end the night back at school, practicing until early morning.
On the final day, the band is awakened by a group who began to take out instruments to set them up on stage. The band decides to head back to Studio Q and continue practicing. However, out of exhaustion they fall asleep and Kei dreams about being celebrated and performing for The Ramones at the Budokan. All this while, the stage managers begin to search for Kei's band, but to no avail. To pass the time, the band's friends Takako and Moe have impromptu performances. Kei only wakes up to the sound of Kyoko's cell phone when Oe calls to ask where Kyoko is. The band then rushes back to school in a taxi where Oe and Kyoko finally meet while everyone else sets up with only ten minutes left. When Kyoko finally comes in, the band performs two of the three songs they had planned: "Linda Linda", and Owaranai Uta to an excited crowd.
Cast
- Bae Doona - Son
- Aki Maeda - Kyoko Yamada
- Yuu Kashii - Kei Tachibana
- Shiori Sekine - Nozomi Shirakawa
- Katsuya Kobayashi - Kazuya Oe
- Takayo Mimura - Rinko Marumoto
- Shione Yukawa - Moe Imamura
- Yuko Yamazaki - Takako Nakajima
- Keisuke Koide - Abe
- Masaki Miura - Tomoki Maezono
- Masahiro Komoto - Teacher Koyama
- Kenichi Matsuyama - Makihara
Soundtrack
The soundtrack was released on July 20, 2005. The original instrumental tracks were composed by James Iha of The Smashing Pumpkins. The vocal tracks include Paranmaum (the band from the movie) singing covers of The Blue Hearts' songs Linda Linda, Boku no Migite (My Right Hand) and Owaranai Uta (Never Ending Song). There are also two songs by Base Ball Bear (the band Shiori Sekine belongs to in reality) played; they are Sayonara Nostalgia and April Mirage. These two songs can be heard playing in the "crêpe shop" scenes featuring Kyoko and Oe Kazuya. Shione Yukawa (who plays Moe Imamura in the movie) and Hanako (from the band me-ism) also perform a few songs on stage at the festival itself.
Track listing
- James Iha - Oopuningu Taitoru (2:44)
- Paranmaum - Linda Linda (2:38)
- James Iha - Houkago (1:04)
- James Iha - Yonin No Fuukei (1:20)
- Paranmaum - Boku No Migite (3:06)
- James Iha - Aru Hi No Hirusagari (0:26)
- Base Ball Bear - April Mirage (4:36)
- James Iha - Hiiragi Matsuri (0:30)
- Base Ball Bear - SAYONARA-NOSTALGIA (4:17)
- James Iha - Kaze Ni Fukarete (1:04)
- James Iha - Cat Walk (0:46)
- James Iha - Taisetsu Na Jikan (3:12)
- James Iha - Son No Yume (1:13)
- James Iha - Kei To Kyouko to Nozomi (0:42)
- James Iha - Yuugure No Kaerimichi (1:36)
- James Iha - Mabayui Gogo (0:53)
- Yukawa Shione - The Water Is Wide (1:29)
- James Iha - Yasashii Jikan (1:22)
- Yukawa Shione - Fuuraibou (3:19)
- James Iha - 3.30 p.m. (1:21)
- Paranmaum - Owaranai Uta (1:42)
References
- ↑ "DVD listing from VIZ Media". Retrieved 2007-06-01.
External links
- Official site for US release
- Announcement of US licensing
- Linda Linda Linda at Rotten Tomatoes
- Linda Linda Linda at the Internet Movie Database
- Linda Linda Linda at allmovie
|