Linda, Linda, Linda

B+

Directed by Nobuhiro Yamashita

Nobuhiro Yamashita's "Linda, Linda, Linda" is a wonderful movie, a tender and sympathetic essay on adolescent angst that exudes intelligence, wit, and charm in spades.

High school students Kei, Kyoko, and Nozumi are preparing to perform a trio of rock songs at their high school's cultural festival but are forced to look for a replacement when their vocalist unexpectedly quits. They quickly press gang an exchange student from Korea (Bae Doona!) into the band and frantically try to get ready for their gig which is in only a few days away.

Films focusing on teens tend too often to paint either an extreme vision of adolescence as either the zenith of an individual's existence or conversely a bleak and miserable hell that teens should feel lucky to escape. "Linda, Linda, Linda" doesn't exactly cut down the middle in this respect since the girl's high school seems to be full of genuinely kind students and teachers but it does offer a more realistic view of adolescence by showing that the highs and the lows experienced by the group are neither dizzyingly high (no one becomes prom queen or scores a winning touchdown in the state (prefecture?) finals) or agonizingly low (no bullying, assaults, or rape à la "All About Lily Choo Choo"). It's a refreshingly nuanced and authentic take on the high school experience and "Linda, Linda, Linda" succeeds in having a real emotional impact without being cloying, manipulative, or farfetched. Nobuhiro Yamashita'a films has been compared repeatedly with those of John Hughes for the comparable way both directors treat their young character's trials and tribulations and the similarity between the two directors is indeed striking. Like Hughes, Nobuhiro Yamashita treats his characters seriously and sympathetically by giving an appropriate significance to their victories and setbacks no matter how insignificant they may appear to be to jaded viewers like myself.

The young cast put together for "Linda, Linda, Linda" is truly top notch with the characters providing subdued, believable performances. Bae Doona is especially good as the school's spacy Korean exchange student.