Linda Linda Linda

Linda Linda Linda is a Japanese movie that was released in 2005. It was directed by newcomer Nobuhiro Yamashita. The interesting thing about Linda Linda Linda is that it uses music from old punk bands, like The Blue Hearts, as well as newer music composed by James Iha, who is a guitarist in the hit band The Smashing Pumpkins. The Smashing Pumpkins are considered “alternative music” and are a bit different that The Blue Hearts, but the combination of the two makes for some great sounds and music.

Synopsis

Linda Linda Linda is about a group of girls, Moe, Kei, Rinko, Kyoko, Nozomi and Son. All of the girls go to Shibazaki High School. Moe, Kei, Rinko, Kyoko and Nozomi decide to form a band so that they can entire the Holly Rock Festival. They believe that, with enough hard work, they have the talent to win. Things start going horribly wrong when Moe, their lead guitarist, breaks two of her fingers. This leaves her unable to play. The band must then find a replacement guitarist and Rinko believes that they should put a boy in the role. Kei disagrees with her and the two argue. As a result Kei refuses to talk to Rinko any more and Rinko, their vocalist, leaves the band.

The remaining members finally decide to movie Kei to the guitarist position, even though she is not familiar with playing a guitar, Kyoko to the drums and Nozomi to the bass. They need to find a singer and decide to do so in a quirky way: they will choose whomever is the first person to talk down the hall.

The first person they see is a boy, and they have decided that they want no boys in their group so they move on to the next person. Rinko wanders down the hallway next, but there is no chance for a reconciliation. Finally a girl named Son walks down the hall. Son is a Korean exchange student that does not know the Japanese language very well but has a good voice. The group takes her in anyway. They name themselves Paran Marum and start rehearsing. They end up having to be very sneaky and practice late at night, which leaves them so tired that they often fall asleep during school and on the floor where they practice.

The girls face many real-life situations, such as Kyoko falling for a boy named Kazuya but not having the courage to tell him that she likes him, and Kei learning to not control everything. Son has the biggest barrier of all: having to learn the language phonetically enough to sing the song without butchering it..

Misc Info

Linda Linda Linda has been marked as a teenage movie for people who do not like teenage movies. The pace is slow but the story is solid enough to keep it together and to make it appealing to adults. The band, Parum Maum, even released a CD in Japan which became a huge hit.