Linda Linda Linda - Movie Review

Directed by -Nobuhiro Yamashita
Produced by - Hiroyuki Negishi and Yuji Sadai
Written by - Kōsuke Mukai, Wakako Miyashita and Nobuhiro Yamashita
Music by - James Iha, The Blue Hearts, Base Ball Bear and Shione Yukawa
Cinematography - Yoshihiro Ikeuchi
Production Design by - Ayako Matsuo
Film Editing by - Ryuji Miyajima

Du-na Bae as - Son - vocalist
Aki Maeda as - Kyoko Yamada (drummer)
Yu Kashii as - Kei Tachibana - Guitarist
Shiori Sekine as - Nozomi Shiroko (bassist)
Takayo Mimura as - Rinko
Shione Yukawa as - Moe
Yuko Yamazaki as - Nakajima
Masahiro Kômoto as - Koyama sensei
Ken'ichi Matsuyama as - Makihara
Katsuya Kobayashi as - Kazuya
Keisuke Koide as - Abe
Masaki Miura as - Maezono
Lily as - Kei's mother
Kaori Fujii as - Nakayama sensei
Koen Kondo
Pierre Taki as - Pierre
Hiroshi Yamamoto as - Studio Employee
Takeshi Yamamoto as - Karaoke Employee
Jason Gray as - Ramones Member
Tatsuya Hamagami as - Iijima
Akifumi Miura as - Ishikawa

Linda Linda Linda - Movie Review
Ok.. so the movie review is 5 years late.....but...but....well I've only just seen it. Definitely a not to be missed punk band movie from director Nobuhiro Yamashita (A Gentle breeze in the village, Ramblers, No one’s Ark and Hazy Life). Unlike so many other mass produced 'band' movies, this one isn't just the same old..'band makes it against all odds despite all being in a drug induced coma and having instruments made of plasticine or papier mache'. Rather refreshingly, the movie focuses on four high schools girls, who having decided on which three punk songs they wish to perform now have only three days in which to practise and perfect them before playing live in the schools rather modest rock festival. The rock festival is just one of several events that features during the schools Hiiragi-sai cultural festival day which appears to be focused on Korean cultural awareness.

The opening speech to the movie reminded me slightly of the classic movie 'Breakfast Club' and its opening (or closing) speech, even the high school names are similar, although any resemblance between the two movies most certainly ends at that point. The movies band members comprise of 'Shiori Sekine' - the real life bassist from the Baseball Bear, some of the Baseball Bear's music can be heard during the movie, I will post a video tomorrow to enlighten you, if you have no clue who they are. The excellent South Korean born actress 'Du-na Bae' (Air Doll, The Host, Take care of my Cat, Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, Plum Blossom) as the Vocalist. Although Du-na Bae is slightly older than the other cast band members she outshines them with a wonderfully comical character portrayal, as the Korean exchange student having to learn to sing the Japanese punk songs. Aki Maeda plays the happy and proficient drummer (Silver Rain, Samurai Gangsters and the battle Royale movies) while Yu Kashii (Yellow Tear, Ten dreamy nights, Death Note...) plays the counter balancing moody and short tempered lead guitarist.

The band cover three tracks originally performed by 'The Blue Hearts', The Blue Hearts were a popular and influential Japanese Punk rock band in the late 80's and early 90's, with a sound not unlike The Ramones or early Jam. The Linda Linda track which was originally released on May 1st 1987 features on many of their compilation albums such as 'The Blue Hearts Box' and their first album 'The Blue Hearts released May 21st 1987. The music score, courtesy of James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins), is generally very subtle and works seamlessly with the cinematography, while augmenting but not competing with the three raw punk tracks which are the focus of many a band school practice sessions. The band’s name, 'The Paran Maun' is Korean for 'The Blue Hearts' in case you are wondering, something I don't think is mentioned in the movie itself.

This movie is sure to win your heart with its no-nonsense upbeat simplicity, heartfelt delivery and charming characters, a great family movie and one that will I'm sure will strike a punk chord with those who remember the early days of Punk with fondness. Don't miss it, it's probably one of the better music movies I have seen in a long while, I guarantee you will be singing Linda Linda for days after watching it or looking for the album. A couple of interesting facts you may be unaware of: - The script for Linda Linda Linda won the Angel Award (scriptwriting competition) in Japan and the brother of the singer from "The Blue Hearts" plays the girls' teacher in the movie.

Synopsis
Three days before the schools Hiiragi-sai (Cultural festival) which includes a small rock festival, Moe the singer and guitarist of an all girl band breaks her middle finger and is unable to play. Rinko, a close friend of all the band members, tries to recruit a male guitarist replacement without consulting the others and with a complete disregard for Moe's feelings. Kei (the bands keyboard player) refuses to speak to her best friend Rinko when she hears what Rinko has done, so the band are left in low spirits with no guitarist or creative direction, With so little time left the band are forced to make a quick decision as to whether to still appear in the Rock festival. The band agrees to appear with Kei playing guitar instead of the keyboard leaving the band just in need of an appropriate lead singer.

Help eventually arrives in the form of Son, a Korean exchange student with variable Japanese language skills. Son agrees to everything even though she is not fully aware of what she has agreed to. The group select three old 'Blue Hearts' tracks including 'Linda Linda' and decide to learn these in the three days they have left; This is obviously quite a challenge, Son needs to learn the lyrics in Japanese, which is not her natural language and Kei needs to learn the guitar part on an instrument she only occasionally plays. Son rushes off to a Karaoke bar to practise her vocal and lyrics, this is quite a funny sketch, with the karaoke club employee trying to explain to Son that she can't sing without first purchasing some kind of drink, while Son maintains she doesn't need a drink and just wants to sing. The majority of the rest of the movie focuses on the girls practising at all hours of the day and night and also on their relationships with each other and in the case of Son and Kyoko, their admirers.

With such little time to prepare, the girl practice late into the night and early hours and by the third day are completely exhausted, so much so that they almost miss the rock festival as they sleep on the club room floor. On the day of the rock festival the band are already late and to make matters worse they have to get to the school hall in a torrential rain storm. Eventually they arrive, drenched, very tired and nearly 30 minutes late, the girls are told they will only have time for one track of the three scheduled. Son appears nervous but takes a deep breath and spontaneously names and introduces the band as 'The Paran Maun" whilst looking at Kei for approval.....

A charming little movie which is not as awkward and predictable as others in its genre. If you enjoyed this movie you will also no doubt enjoy Swing Girls and Fish Story.

Recommended

Cinematography - 7

Casting- 8

Acting- 8

Story - 8

Entertainment - 9

Total - 8.0

Screenshots from the movie Linda Linda Linda