By Jake Howell jake.howell@utoronto.ca
Countdown to Cannes: Hirokazu Kore-eda
HIROKAZU KORE-EDA
Background: Japanese; born Tokyo, Japan, 1962.
Known for / style: Nobody Knows (2004), Still Walking (2008), I Wish (2011); directing television and documentaries in addition to narrative features; contemplative looks at mortality, loss, and memory; blurring the lines between fiction and nonfiction; incorporating autobiographical elements into his stories.
Notable accolades: On the festival circuit, Koreeda has won the Grand Prix at the Ghent International Film Festival (Nobody Knows), Best Screenplay at San Sebastián (I Wish), and Venice’s Golden Osella for Best Director (1995’s Maborosi). Maborosi also won Best Film at the Chicago International Film Festival. At the 2009 Asian Film Awards, he took home the award for Best Director (Still Walking, 2008). In his native Japan, Kore-eda is the owner of three Blue Ribbon Awards (Best Director and Best Film for Nobody Knows; Best Director for Still Walking).
Previous Cannes appearances: Koreeda has had three films at Cannes: two in Competition (2001’s Distance; 2004’s Nobody Knows) and one in Un Certain Regard (2009’s Air Doll). In 2004, Yūya Yagira’s performance in Nobody Knows took the prize for Best Actor.
Film he’s bringing to Cannes: Like Father, Like Son, a Japanese-language drama starring Masaharu Fukuyama, Machiko Ono, Lily Franky (All Around Us, 2008), and Yôko Maki (The Grudge, 2004). When a father learns his biological son was swapped with a different boy at birth, he must make the difficult choice between his actual son and the boy he sired.
Could it win the Palme? Sight unseen, Like Father, Like Son could take the cake for saddest entry at the Festival, and if that’s the case—and the film is powerful enough to affect the jury—Kore-eda could be in for his first major European festival win, whether it’s a Jury Prize or a Best Director gong. Japan is no stranger to the award; the country having won four times prior (the legendary Shohei Imamura responsible for two). With Japanese compatriot Naomi Kawase on the jury, Kore-eda should stand favorable ground against his fellow Palme contenders. Then again, a single vote is a single vote. Kore-eda’s odds to win the top prize seem difficult, but given Nanni Moretti’s Palme-winning The Son’s Room (2001), we know the topic of father-son relationships is a golden one.
Why you should care: A favorite in auteur circles, Koreeda continues to impress (and depress) with his themes of loss and death. Whether or not he can secure a stronger holding stateside remains to be seen, but a Cannes award would help considerably. It’s also nice to have a Japanese film that actually has a shot at a Palme d’Or, as Takashi Miike’s genre Competition entry Wara no Tate (with middling reviews out of Japan) seems hopeless in that regard. Either way, with his demotion to Un Certain Regard with Air Doll in 2009, Kore-eda’s bottom line victory is his return to the prestigious main event, perhaps signaling the greatness of Like Father, Like Son.
