The Hammer is a 4-Day Vote Center, Nov 2–5. See hours

A Japanese teenager stands in a field of tall grass
Screenings UCLA Film & TV Archive

All About Lily Chou-Chou

Presented by the UCLA Film & Television Archive.

Part of the UCLA Film & Television Archive screening series A Film Series for You: Celebrating Giant Robot’s 30th Anniversary. Learn more at cinema.ucla.edu.

In-person: Giant Robot founder Eric Nakamura.

Japanese writer-director Shunji Iwai’s elliptic take on the internet, fan culture and adolescent trauma has come to feel ever more prescient, ever more powerful as we’ve moved deeper into the millennium. As he navigates the vicissitudes of school and endures the relentless bullying of his former best friend (Shugo Oshinari), 14-year-old Yuichi (Hayato Ichihara) finds solace in the dreamy pop music of Lily Chou-Chou and the mythology he helps construct around her on the message board he moderates. Profiled in Giant Robot Issue #68, Iwai rides emotional swells instead of narrative arcs giving the film an intensely subjective, deeply personal experience. 

2001. DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles, 146 min. Director: Shunji Iwai. Screenwriter: Shunji Iwai. With: Hayato Ichihara, Shugo Oshinari, Yu Aoi.

ATTENDING THIS PROGRAM?

Ticketing: Admission to Archive screenings at the Hammer is free. Your seat will be assigned to you when you pick up your ticket at the box office. Seats are assigned on a first come, first served basis. Box office opens one hour before the event. Questions should be directed to the Archive at programming@cinema.ucla.edu or 310-206-8013.

Member Benefit: Subject to availability, Hammer Members can choose their preferred seats. Members receive priority ticketing until 15 minutes before the program. Learn more about membership.

Parking: Valet parking is available on Lindbrook Drive for $15 cash only. Self-parking is available under the museum. Rates are $8 for the first three hours with museum validation, and $3 for each additional 20 minutes, with a $22 daily maximum. There is an $8 flat rate after 5 p.m. on weekdays, and all day on weekends.

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