Udine Dispatch. 7.

Along with Yamazaki Takashi's Always, Linda Linda Linda, by the 29-year-old Japanese director Yamashita Nobuhiro, is so far the most popular film at the Udine Far East Film Festival and is sure to remain so. Some of the reasons why: For starters, it has a contemplative narrative structure and resists all attempts to be pigeonholed, though certainly critics will try. Yamashita told me that he invited the four actresses a week before shooting to share a hotel and get to know one another. You could say the film is to some extent improvisational because the way they respond to each other informs the script. The setting is a high school in the north of Japan, but Yamashita said it could have been made in Tokyo as well. The story is about a band that forms during the Shiba High Holly Fest and Japan-Korea Cultural exchange week. When the guitarist drops out, the remaining members of a band need a lead singer. They have chosen to do covers of songs by the legendary punk all male band Blue Hearts.

A lead singer is found - Song (Bae Doo-na), a Korean student who jumps at the opportunity. She has yet to make any friends at school, even though she already has one fan, the boy who sees her at the incinerator and professes his love for her. "Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike you, but I don't like you," she explains diplomatically. The impact of this subtle dialogue struck a chord with the Udinese audience. The other band members are Nozomi (Sekine Shiori) on bass, Kei (Kashi Yu) on guitar and Kyoko (Maeda Aki) on drums. You might recall Kei from Shinji Higuchi's Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean. Yamashita signed directly following that movie. Here she gets ample room to reveal her acting abilities rather than being stuck in the hub of a sub and we do notice when she is not in a scene.

The opening scene of the film is a shoot for a video project. A young woman speaks to the camera, and someone yells, "Cut!" This is how Yamashita remembers his early film education. He said he was surprised by how little everything had changed since he attended high school and without any pretension told me he was interested in making a timeless classic. Linda Linda is a timeless classic. The plot of the film basically concerns the build-up to the big concert at the Holly Fest. We have not until now heard the band at length - in fact, they seem very secretive and shy about it, so when the lyrics include something on the order of, "We rebel against this asshole world," and "Like a rat, I want to be beautiful," you have to admire their bravery and the courage of this talented director.

Another colorful and warm, music-themed teen film screened at the festival is Nana, directed by Otani Kentaro and the story of a friendship between two girls based on a manga by Yasawa Ai. One is a rock vocalist Komatsu Nana (Aoi Miyazaki), whose boyfriend Ren (Matsuda Ryuhei) has joined another band, and the other the bubbly and self-absorbed Ozaki Nana (Mika Nakajima) who moves to Tokyo to be with her boyfriend. Things don't work out romantically quite as either planned, but their friendship grows and endures. Ozaki Nana is glad when Komatsu Nana confides some of the history of her life. "I am so happy you told me. I felt so lonely when you didn't." The timing and delivery is genuine. Another precocious line in the film is when Ozaki Nana says to Komatsu Nana, "You're really cool. I think of you more as a boyfriend than a girlfriend." But Komatsu Nana can also be vulnerable when she must decide whether or not to carry on with the enigmatic Ren. The youthful energy of this film is contagious.

Posted by dwhudson at April 30, 2006 2:54 AM