The Fordham University Office of the Dean’s series, Films Worth Talking About, Even If Difficult, strives to make film viewings communal, stimulating, and rewarding experiences. Accordingly, two lucky cinephiles who attended the 9/28 screening at Rose Hill of Shunji Iwai’s All About Lily Chou-Chou won the raffle and will soon receive the much-coveted circa-2000 Sony Walkman D-EJ611 in Purple/Blue that Yūichi uses in the movie. Inside the player is, of course, the ethereal Ayako Mori/Takeshi Kobayashi soundtrack for the film. This moody J-Dreampop should take them right back to when they were 14 and felt life so intensely, as the film’s characters did.

The discussion after the screening was wonderfully spirited, with opinions backed by specific observations about the cinematography, sound, character development, and the historical time frame. Students intuitively understood the protagonist’s dual lives on Internet 1.0 chat boards in the 2000s and connected that element to their junior high school years during COVID. As you would imagine, everyone understood the harmful effects of bullying depicted in the film and the importance of being an active upstander for oneself and others in the face of persecution.

Hearing our students reflect on complex films, substantiate their observations, and disagree politely is always impressive. If this sounds intriguing to you, please join us on November 10 at 6 pm for the next film in the series, the extraordinary Paris Is Burning, at the Lincoln Center campus in the Visual Arts Complex Screening Room SL24L.

And remember:

—Stephan Apicella-Hitchcock