badidosh A few days before they perform at their school's festival, a group of high school girls find themselves in trouble after their lead guitarist broke her finger and the lead singer had a falling out with one of them. The remaining members - guitarist Kei (Yu Kashii), drummer Kyoko (Aki Maeda), and bassist Nozomi (Shiori Sekine) - have three days to find a new member and practice for their performance. In a whim, they recruit Son (Bae Doona), a Korean exchange student who has no prior performing experience and can speak very little Japanese, to be their vocalist. And because they have no time to work on original compositions, the girls decide to do covers of the Japanese rock band Blue Hearts including the eponymous song.Essentially a feel-good movie about friendship, crossing language barriers, music, and that point everyone goes through (uh, leaving a major phase of life behind), "Linda Linda Linda" presents the life of four individuals in an innocently amusing manner. The overall pacing may be slow - the editing doesn't resort to quick cuts and many scenes are simply long takes where the camera remains static, minimal dialog is spoken and instead would rely on the actors' emotions - but coupled with the soundtrack of Smashing Pumpkins alumnus James Iha, Novuhiro Yamashita's lovely direction makes the film consistently droll and bittersweet.Minimal sub-plots are added and the narrative is pretty much straightforward. The script is mainly concerned with the four girls and their music as the girls' backstories are only hinted at, mostly involving teenage squabbles. A scene showing Son and a male admirer is funny to anyone who can relate, and Son's nonchalant reply to the boy's "I love you" is painfully amusing.However, the movie's main strength is the chemistry among the girls as they struggle to rehearse and form a bond with their new vocalist despite her inability to speak Japanese fluently. Bae, whom I last saw in the Korean movie The Host, subtly delivers her deadpan humor in a natural way and her skillful interaction with her much younger co-stars is spot-on.Generally, the film is a solid effort. It's pretty much straightforward in presenting a slice of life of its characters with a plot that's not too interested in veering away from the girls and the music they play together. The result is a simple movie that's both entertaining and endearing.

jv_rules_1 please ignore the other comment . this movie is simple and effective. i saw it during the festival du nouveau cinema in montreal. i just randomly picked it even if the synopsis didn't seem that interesting...set in japan, its about 4 teenage girls who form a rock band so that they can play a song at their school festival. the characters are well developed. the images are reallllly nice.(a la jim jarmusch) its like a teen movie made for people who don't usually like teen movies. the pace is a bit slower than usual teen movies but its much more mature and still ends up being funny.plus, the soundtrack, by james iha (ex-smashingpumpkins), is quite goodgo see it. or rent it or whatever.

madscientist2787 I'm happy to report that the Japanese film Linda Linda Linda, which screened tonight at NYAFF (and was the first film of the festival that I was able to go see at the ImaginAsian theater) is hands-down the best movie I've seen at the festival so far. An upbeat and joyous film about a high school girls' rock and roll band, it's practically guaranteed to go straight to the heart of anyone who believes in music, and its power to save one's soul.The plot is as straightforward as they come. Shiba High School is holding their annual Holly Festival complete with a musical talent show, and three friends - drummer Kyoko (Aki Madea, Battle Royale), keyboardist-turned-guitarist Kei (Yu Kasii, Lorelei) and bassist Nozomi (Shiori Sekine, of the real band Base Ball Bear) are struggling to get a band together. After their previous guitarist injures her finger and has to bow out, they recruit shy Korean exchange student Song (Bae Doo-Na, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance) as their vocalist, and decide to cover three songs by the Clash-esquire 80's J-punk group The Blue Hearts. After weeks of staying up all night practicing, jamming until the wee hours (not to mention the fact that Song has to learn her lyrics phonetically), they are finally ready to play their music before their teachers and friends.Admittedly, the description above probably makes this movie sound like every other movie about a band, or a sports team, or some kind of sentimental, rah-rah "Eye of the Tiger" pap. Trust me - nothing could be farther from the truth. What this movie is about is the people - the four schoolgirls that are its main characters are as quirky, and as button-cute, but also as three dimensional, as anyone you'd meet in life, and the movie's long, uninterrupted takes and improv-style acting give us a fly-on-the-wall feeling of being there. Opening with a MiniDV shot of one girl giving an on-camera interview about the Holly Festival, the movie starts out depicting its characters with shy restraint, gradually revealing more and more about their personalities, foibles, their joys and sorrows, until eventually, they literally start to feel like our friends. By the end, when the group performs their songs, we've honestly forgotten that they are characters in a film. We want to stand up and applaud.I would honestly say that Linda Linda Linda is one of the greatest rock and roll films I've ever seen. Being a recent film, it doesn't have the legendary status of This Is Spinal Tap or A Hard Day's Night, but honestly, it's up there. This is rock and roll stripped down to its very core. No pretension, no decadence, no sex, drugs, limos, and all of that bullshit - just the three-chord structure of a song and its power to save lives. It's a truly beautiful thing to see and hear.

ridleyrules Story told in a documentary-style, about 4 girls at a Japanese high-school campus who start a rock band. The goal is to perform at a festival of their school.The movie starts out quite flat, with a distant and static camera. While the story progresses, the movie becomes more intimate as we learn a little bit more about the characters. We see the coming together of the band, rehearsing and interaction of band members with teachers, boyfriends and family.There are not so many laughs. Script and acting are pretty straight. Highlight is the actress who plays the Korean exchange student and lead singer Son. She delivers a few very welcome comedic moments.This almost two hour long movie really takes its time to get to its point. The finale delivers, though. There is even some suspense towards the end. 7/10