Linda Linda Linda (2005)

Three days until the first gig in a school festival, and desaster strikes a japanese girl band: The guitarrist breaks her fingers and two of the band members have a serious fall out. But Kei is determined to hold the band together and to play on that festival. She and her two remaining friends decide to do some songs by the japanese punk rock band The Blue Hearts, but there is a slight problem: While Kei will try to learn to play guitar in three days, the band still needs a singer. Enter korean exchange student Son. She can barely speak japanese and the offer to sing comes for her and for Kei - who does the offering - as quite a shock, but somehow the four girls stick to it and start working on the songs. So we have a band with a guitar player that never played the instrument before and a singer, who can't really speak the language. If that isn't punk, what is?
All right, LINDA LINDA LINDA hasn't got the most original plot in the world and comparisons to movies like SCHOOL OF ROCK or especially SWING GIRLS are unavoidable. But while the last mentioned flick is the stronger one, LINDA LINDA LINDA has a lot to offer to make that tried formula into a fun movie. First of all there is the music: "Linda Linda" is a very catchy tune by The Blue Hearts, a classic japanese punk rock band, that can be compared to The Clash. By the end of the movie you can't get the refrain ("Linda Linda, Linda Linda Lindaaa") out of your head. Very nice fun punk, indeed.
And then there are the actresses. The headstrong and stubborn Kei is played by Yu Kashii, who recently was seen in DEATH NOTE (btw: Ken'ichi Matsuyama, who plays "L" in that movie has a small part here). Her smoldering and brooding bad girl attitude seems to channel the great Meiko Kaji (LADY SNOWBLOOD and especially FEMALE PRISONER SCORPION) and she even looks a little bit like that fabulous star from the 70s. The second important role is of course that of the korean student Son, played by Bae Du-na. Son is often bewildered about her friends, about japanese customs (and the language) and seems to wonder, what she got herself into. Since she can't speak japanese very good she mostly observes her surroundings silently. Bae is very good in getting her character across without many words, and you can feel the mixture of stage fright, excitement and joy, when she stands behind the microphone and starts singing "Linda Linda". Very fine actress! I didn't recognize her, and when I looked her up in the IMDB I was very astonished to find that she was 26 when she made this film, playing a 15 or 16 years old teenager. She had a role in Park Chan-wook's SYMPATHY FOR MR VENGEANCE, starred in the mildly entertainig comedy SAVING MY HUBBY und was the "reluctant archer" in the blockbuster THE HOST, but I consider LINDA LINDA LINDA to be her best work as an actress.
The other actors are also okay, but they haven't enough to do to make them very memorable (for instant bassist Nozomi, played by musician Shiori Sekine in her screen debut). Drummer Kyoko (Aki Maeda, Star of BATTLE ROYALE) has a sweet subplot about first love, but that detracts a bit from the movie's main motive and slows it down. The main fault of the movie is exactly this: in some parts it is just too slow and in the whole too long. Nearly two hours are quite a stretch for a simple story like this. But all is forgotten, when Son finally stands on the stage and the band starts with "Linda Linda"! (So okay, that is a bit of a spoiler, but really: there is only one way, this sort of movie _can_ end).
If you enjoy the movie, check out SWING GIRLS: different music (swing, obviously) but equally fun und an even better film.