Linda Linda Linda (2005)

82% of critics liked it
(11 reviews)
85% of users liked it
(3,338 ratings)

Four schoolgirls put the axiom "the show must go on" to the test in this rock & roll teen comedy drama from Japan. Nozumi (Shiori Sekine) and Kyoto (Aki Maeda) are two friends who attend the same high school and have decided to put together a rock band to play the school's talent show. Things are… More Four schoolgirls put the axiom "the show must go on" to the test in this rock & roll teen comedy drama from Japan. Nozumi (Shiori Sekine) and Kyoto (Aki Maeda) are two friends who attend the same high school and have decided to put together a rock band to play the school's talent show. Things are going well until two days before the show, when the group's lead guitarist quits for fear of breaking her fingernails and the singer walks due to lack of interest. Determined to make a showing one way or another, Nozumi takes over as bass player, Kyoto becomes the group's drummer, and their pal Kei (Yu Kashii) is drafted as lead guitarist, even though keyboards are her first instrument. Needing a singer, the girls literally take on the first likely candidate who crosses their path. However, the new vocalist turns out to be Song (Doona Bae), a Korean exchange student who not only hasn't sang before, but has only the most rudimentary command of Japanese. The girls give themselves the goal of being able to play "Linda Linda Linda," a hit for the Japanese pop-punk band the Blue Hearts, in time for the show, but is there any way Kei and Song can overcome their steep learning curve? Linda Linda Linda received its North American premiere at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 54 min.
Directed By: Nobuhiro Yamashita
Written By: Kosuke Mukai, Wakako Miyashita, Nobuhiro Yamashita
Genres: Drama, Art House & International, Comedy

In Theaters: Jul 23, 2005 Limited
On DVD: May 8, 2007
Studio: Viz Pictures

Critic Reviews

G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle
An extremely well-written, emotionally complex coming-of-age tale that has a John Hughesian respect for teenage angst.
Ty Burr, Boston Globe
If The Beatles were teen girls starring in a John Hughes picture made with a distinctly Japanese attention to the comedy of everyday life, the movie showcasing it all would go something like this.
Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times
An understated and disarmingly human tale of an all-girl band in the runup to the annual rock festival at the members' school.
Dennis Harvey, Variety
This technically OK but incident-free pic will induce sleep.
Laura Clifford, Reeling Reviews
Doona Bae shines as the adorably awkward teenager who's never met a stage she's afraid of.
Burl Burlingame, Honolulu Star-Advertiser
The movie provides a fine, shiny reminiscence of school days, when learning three guitar chords in the right order was the most important thing in the world.
Rudy Joggerst, Reel.com
There's a naturalness to the characters and the script which is rarely achieved in other coming-of-age films.
Adam Nayman, eye WEEKLY
Director Nobuhiro Yamashita seems to be aiming for a laconic deadpan tone, yet the static camera work and even-keel pacing elicit more yawns than chuckles.
Ted Fry, Seattle Times
It's the kind of high-school movie about kids and music that Hollywood would never be able to capture with such intimacy, nuance and restraint.
Sean Axmaker, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
... a lively, engaging, character-driven piece with flourishes of offbeat humor...
Rob Humanick, Slant Magazine
The film exhorts a sense of nostalgia for the stressful trials of youth.
Wally Hammond, Time Out
Funny, droll, sweetly directed and note-perfect.

Read all 12 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Justin Y

Linda Linda Linda, from Nobuhiro Yamashita, focuses on friendship to put together a schoolgirl band."A music group of girls need to learn to play a song before the school festival." There really isn't a whole lot more to it than that.… More
Linda Linda Linda, from Nobuhiro Yamashita, focuses on friendship to put together a schoolgirl band."A music group of girls need to learn to play a song before the school festival." There really isn't a whole lot more to it than that. Spanning nearly two hours, if there is something missing from this picture, it is a little more meat to the plot; however, it is the slow dramatic style that gives this film its success. The tone makes it feel like time spent with the characters, rather than watching them.Linda Linda Linda is far from a comedy. The humor is subtle, and minimal at that, but effectively used. Like the storytelling, the smiles happen with the characters more than at them.Bae Du-na gets a lot of credit for this one, delivering both Korean and Japanese lines of dialogue. Kashii Yu, Aki Maeda, and Shiori Sekine round out the other likable band members.Linda Linda Linda may be mellow, but in the end it is a satisfying sit through.
Lesley N

Sweet Japanese film about four schoolgirls who form a band for the school talent contest. Luckily not as cliched as I'd feared, due to the focus on the girls and their friendship rather than the whole playing in a band thing.
Anthony V

Fun film with good performances from the girls in the band, great soundtrack from James Iha (of the Smashing Pumpkins), a solid script and good direction. In case you haven't heard of Japanese punk band, "The Blue Hearts", the title track is going to stay in your head.