Linda Linda Linda

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Linda Linda Linda
Directed by	Nobuhiro Yamashita
Written by	Nobuhiro Yamashita
Produced by
Starring	Bae Doona Aki Maeda Yu Kashii Shiori Sekine
Cinematography
Music by	James Iha The Blue Hearts Base Ball Bear
Distributed by	Covers&Co VAP Viz Pictures
Release date	July 23, 2005 (2005-07-23)
Running time	114 minutes
Language	Japanese

Linda Linda Linda (リンダ リンダ リンダ) is a 2005 Japanese film directed by Nobuhiro Yamashita. It stars Bae Doona, Aki Maeda, Yu Kashii, and Shiori Sekine (of the band Base Ball Bear) as teenagers who form a band to cover songs by the Japanese punk rock band the Blue Hearts; the film's title comes from the hit Blue Hearts song "Linda Linda". An English-subtitled DVD was released on May 8, 2007.^[1] The band, Paranmaum (Korean for "the Blue Hearts"), released a CD single in Japan and Korea: We Are Paranmaum., containing three songs that they perform in the movie and three other songs.

Plot[]

With three days to go before the 2004 Shiba High Holly Festival closes out their senior year,^[2] a band of schoolgirls has their guitarist sidelined due to hand injury. After a debate about replacing the guitarist, their singer decides to quit. The remaining members: keyboardist Kei, drummer Kyoko, and bassist Nozomi decide to still perform in the rock concert of the festival and cover Blue Hearts songs, including "Linda Linda", with Kei switch to guitar. When they are confronted by their former singer Rinko, they ask the first girl that happens to walk by, Son, as their new singer. Son is a Korean exchange student that is not fluent in Japanese, and this leads to some difficulties and misunderstandings. After school, Son practices at a karaoke parlor, Kei borrows a guitar from their former guitarist Moe, Nozomi practices at the bedroom that she shares with her brothers at home, and Kyoko talks to her crush Kazuya.

On the next day, two days before the concert, they begin practicing early at school. Kei still struggles to play the guitar. As school begins, they all break off to do their own thing, Kyoko is seen selling crepes alongside Kazuya. In the mid-afternoon, the girls regroup back at the music club room, but Kyoko ends up coming late and they miss their time slot. Kei calls her ex-boyfriend Maezano and manages to get her group over to a studio, "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, the day before the concert, they are well-rehearsed. As school begins, the girls go to their respective places to help out during the festival. Kei practices her guitar parts and talks to her rocker friend Takako. Son is supposed to help with the Japan-Korea cultural exchange, but daydreams about the band. Kyoko sells crepes and Nozomi falls asleep on her bass guitar in a classroom. Kei and Kyoko wake Nozomi up and fetch Son. Son rebuffs the confession of love of a schoolmate, Makihara. Over dinner at Nozomi's house, the girls persuade Kyoko to confess to Kazuya before the performance the next day. They end the night back at school, practicing until morning.

The band gets awakened on the day of the concert by students who take out instruments to the stage in the gymnasium. The band decides to head back to Studio Q and continue practicing. Exhausted, they fall asleep. Kei dreams about being celebrated and performing for the Ramones and Pierre Taki at the Budokan Hall. At the school, the stage managers and Moe search for the band, but to no avail. To pass the time, Takako and Moe give impromptu performances. Kei is woken by Kyoko's cellphone when Kazuya calls to ask where Kyoko is. They rush back to school in a taxi and run into the gymnasium under heavy rain. Kyoko meets Kazuya halfway, while the band sets up minutes before the performance. When Kyoko finally comes in, Son introduced that they are "Paranmaum" and the band performs two of the three songs they had planned: "Linda Linda" and "Owaranai Uta" to an excited crowd.

Cast[]

Main (Paranmaum band)

• Bae Doona - Son, the vocalist of Paranmaum, a Korean exchange student.
• Aki Maeda - Kyoko Yamada, the drummer of Paranmaum band.
• Yuu Kashii - Kei Tachibana, the guitarist of Paranmaum band (formerly a keyboardist).
• Shiori Sekine - Nozomi Shirakawa, the bassist of Paranmaum band.

Supporting

• Katsuya Kobayashi - Kazuya Oe, Kyoko's crush.
• Takayo Mimura - Rinko Marumoto, former vocalist of the girl's band.
• - Moe Imamura, former guitarist of the girl's band.
• Yuko Yamazaki - Takako Nakajima, Kei's rocker friend.
• Keisuke Koide - Abe, the leader of the school's music club.
• - Tomoki Maezono, Kei's ex-boyfriend.
• - Teacher Koyama, in charge of the music club.
• Kenichi Matsuyama - Makihara, a schoolboy that has a crush on Son.
• Lily - Kei's mother.

Reception[]

Linda Linda Linda has an 82% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes^[3] and a 71/100 average on Metacritic.^[4] The film was David Ehrlich's choice for IndieWire's 2018 list of the best Japanese films of the 21st century, with Ehrlich suggesting that it isn't as profound as films like Spirited Away (2001), Millennium Actress (2001), and Nobody Knows (2004), but still praising it as "euphorically fun [...] so rich, so charismatic, and so damn catchy, you’ll be itching to show it to all your friends."^[5]

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)". Kashii and Maeda learned to play their instruments specially for this movie. There are also two songs by Base Ball Bear (the band Shiori Sekine belongs to in reality); they are "Sayonara Nostalgia" and "April Mirage". These two songs can be heard playing in the "crêpe shop" scenes featuring Kyoko and Oe Kazuya. (who plays Moe Imamura in the movie) and Yuko Yamazaki (from the band ) also perform a few songs on stage at the festival itself.

References[]

External links[]

• Official site for US release
• Announcement of US licensing
• Linda Linda Linda at Rotten Tomatoes
• Linda Linda Linda at IMDb
• Linda Linda Linda at AllMovie