News Analysis India

Tag: Hirokazu Kore-eda

  • Cannes: Hirokazu Kore-eda’s ‘Monster’ with a big heart

    By AFP

    CANNES: Japan’s Palme d’Or winner Hirokazu Kore-eda unveiled his new movie “Monster” (“Kaibutsu”) at Cannes on Wednesday, a heartwarming tale despite its ominous title.

    Treating issues including bullying and domestic abuse, “Monster” bears many hallmarks of Kore-eda’s tender cinema about tough lives and unconventional families that already won him the top prize in Cannes in 2018 for “Shoplifters”.

    “Monster” begins as a disquieting tale of teacher-pupil harassment with a clear baddie, but judgements are swiftly revised as the film switches points of view.

    “I wanted the spectator to be able to search in the same way the characters were doing in the film,” the 60-year-old director told AFP about the movie’s central mystery: who is the monster?

    Shameful systemBut while Kore-eda’s characters emerge with their humanity intact, Japan’s education system does not come off so well.

    “When an institution puts protecting itself at the very top of its priorities… then ‘what really happened is not important’,” said Kore-eda, quoting a line from the film.

    The phrase, he said, “is relevant not only for Japan’s education system but also the majority of collective institutions that have a tendency to want to protect themselves at the cost of many other things”.

    Kore-eda’s film comes just a year after his last one, “Broker”, premiered in competition at Cannes and scooped the best actor prize for Song Kang-ho, the South Korean star best-known for the multi-Oscar winning “Parasite”.

    In a break from his usual working method, Kore-eda did not pen the script for “Monster” himself, but turned to screenwriter Yuji Sakamoto.

    “As it’s not me who wrote it, I can say without a second thought that I think it’s really a very good screenplay!” he joked about the intricate, multiple viewpoints narrative.

    Since his first fiction film in 1995, Kore-eda has made more than a dozen critically acclaimed features.

    He was first in competition for the Palme d’Or in 2001 with “Distance”, about the devastating personal toll of a cult massacre.

    His breakthrough outside Japan came three years later with “Nobody Knows”, inspired, like many of his films, by a real-life event, this one set around four young siblings abandoned in an apartment by their mother.

    The Cannes Film Festival runs until May 27 with 21 films in competition, including other past Palme winners such as Britain’s Ken Loach and Germany’s Wim Wenders.

    CANNES: Japan’s Palme d’Or winner Hirokazu Kore-eda unveiled his new movie “Monster” (“Kaibutsu”) at Cannes on Wednesday, a heartwarming tale despite its ominous title.

    Treating issues including bullying and domestic abuse, “Monster” bears many hallmarks of Kore-eda’s tender cinema about tough lives and unconventional families that already won him the top prize in Cannes in 2018 for “Shoplifters”.

    “Monster” begins as a disquieting tale of teacher-pupil harassment with a clear baddie, but judgements are swiftly revised as the film switches points of view.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    “I wanted the spectator to be able to search in the same way the characters were doing in the film,” the 60-year-old director told AFP about the movie’s central mystery: who is the monster?

    Shameful system
    But while Kore-eda’s characters emerge with their humanity intact, Japan’s education system does not come off so well.

    “When an institution puts protecting itself at the very top of its priorities… then ‘what really happened is not important’,” said Kore-eda, quoting a line from the film.

    The phrase, he said, “is relevant not only for Japan’s education system but also the majority of collective institutions that have a tendency to want to protect themselves at the cost of many other things”.

    Kore-eda’s film comes just a year after his last one, “Broker”, premiered in competition at Cannes and scooped the best actor prize for Song Kang-ho, the South Korean star best-known for the multi-Oscar winning “Parasite”.

    In a break from his usual working method, Kore-eda did not pen the script for “Monster” himself, but turned to screenwriter Yuji Sakamoto.

    “As it’s not me who wrote it, I can say without a second thought that I think it’s really a very good screenplay!” he joked about the intricate, multiple viewpoints narrative.

    Since his first fiction film in 1995, Kore-eda has made more than a dozen critically acclaimed features.

    He was first in competition for the Palme d’Or in 2001 with “Distance”, about the devastating personal toll of a cult massacre.

    His breakthrough outside Japan came three years later with “Nobody Knows”, inspired, like many of his films, by a real-life event, this one set around four young siblings abandoned in an apartment by their mother.

    The Cannes Film Festival runs until May 27 with 21 films in competition, including other past Palme winners such as Britain’s Ken Loach and Germany’s Wim Wenders.

  • IFFK 2022: Hirokazu Kore-eda conjures up yet another wonderfully poignant tale in Broker

    Express News Service

    After touching upon the idea of adopted families in his widely impactful, critically acclaimed Japanese film Shoplifters, Hirokazu Kore-eda once again ventures into a similar territory individuals from different mothers maintaining the pretence of a family this time in Korean. 

    “Don’t have a baby if you’re going to abandon it.” is the first line uttered in his latest film Broker, after one woman observes, from afar, another leaving her baby in front of a church’s ‘baby box’. Kore-eda gives us some time to put the pieces together before revealing why this woman is following the other and, later, why this baby is now in the hands of two men (Song Kang-ho and Gang Dong-won) who are tending to it with great care. 

    There is a whiff of something illegal happening, but these are, we soon learn, men with a conscience. The former is in debt; the other is an orphan himself. Besides, there is loads of money to be made from selling babies to the right people childless couples equipped to look after a stranger’s baby as their own. There is an attempt to reach a mutual agreement while riding the wave of internal conflicts. The two men are a unit, testing their homegrown techniques to weed out fake buyers. One such deal goes kaput when the ‘husband’ answers something meant for his ‘wife’. It’s a comical situation one of few subdued instances of humour in Broker. 

    The discussions initiated by the film are right up my alley. When one character ponders the irresponsibility of some parents causing misery to children who didn’t ask to be born into a miserable world, I nodded in agreement. It’s a thought brought up by a female cop (Bae Doona). Now, this is one of the impressive qualities of Broker: the investigators exhibit human frailties, like all of us. 

    There is a tender side to this law woman. Kore-eda drops hints about her not having a child. Again, he takes time to let us know her background. Another cop, a male, has an aversion to blood and braces himself before surveying a crime scene. These are people who might get turned off by a show like CSI. By making these characters behave like they are one of us, Kore-eda shortens the distance between them and us. Yes, these are integral players, but they are not the prime focus of the Broker. They are merely the facilitators and catalysts. In other words, “brokers.”

    And just like any of the Japanese masters that Kore-eda gets often compared to Yasujiro Ozu or Mikio Naruse, two filmmakers whose work I occasionally turn to when I need some comfort or answers pertaining to familial relationships he infuses, as always, his work with enough details to make the whole thing feel alive. 

    We get characters reflecting on life and their parental instincts trying to make sense of their choices and of others, the nature and ethics of adoption, how some people see it as “protection” and not “abandonment”… The concept of the ‘baby box’ itself becomes a topic of thought-provoking debate: Does it have a corrupting influence on mothers? Or does it save lives? 

    And this reflective quality is also achieved by enveloping us in the ambient sounds or visuals a tree swaying in the breeze, or clothes hung up to dry outside a laundromat or underscoring some of these solemn moments with slow guitar or piano notes. There are also conversations over food, a characteristic quality of many Asian films, Korean films especially. Isn’t it why we watch the work of these immensely perceptive foreign filmmakers? To feel alive and to study various lifestyles? We rarely find this level of detailing in Indian films today.

    Kore-eda keeps the proceedings interesting by weaving multiple threads, which include a murder investigation running in parallel and a few gangsters, bringing up the possibility of their links with one or more principal characters. Challenging choices are to be made, both by men and women. 

    In a much later scene, we see a strange alchemy forming between two people who, a while ago, seemed far apart owing to disagreements in principles. One of the film’s most delicate moments happens inside a Ferris wheel pod, recalling a relatively more heartwarming and sweeter moment inside a similar spot in Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise. The circumstances differ in both cases, though.

    Through Broker, Kore-eda asks us to hold our judgements until we get to know these characters more and, hopefully, get a better sense of why some people do certain things, even when all our questions don’t find their answers.

    After touching upon the idea of adopted families in his widely impactful, critically acclaimed Japanese film Shoplifters, Hirokazu Kore-eda once again ventures into a similar territory individuals from different mothers maintaining the pretence of a family this time in Korean. 

    “Don’t have a baby if you’re going to abandon it.” is the first line uttered in his latest film Broker, after one woman observes, from afar, another leaving her baby in front of a church’s ‘baby box’. Kore-eda gives us some time to put the pieces together before revealing why this woman is following the other and, later, why this baby is now in the hands of two men (Song Kang-ho and Gang Dong-won) who are tending to it with great care. 

    There is a whiff of something illegal happening, but these are, we soon learn, men with a conscience. The former is in debt; the other is an orphan himself. Besides, there is loads of money to be made from selling babies to the right people childless couples equipped to look after a stranger’s baby as their own. There is an attempt to reach a mutual agreement while riding the wave of internal conflicts. The two men are a unit, testing their homegrown techniques to weed out fake buyers. One such deal goes kaput when the ‘husband’ answers something meant for his ‘wife’. It’s a comical situation one of few subdued instances of humour in Broker. 

    The discussions initiated by the film are right up my alley. When one character ponders the irresponsibility of some parents causing misery to children who didn’t ask to be born into a miserable world, I nodded in agreement. It’s a thought brought up by a female cop (Bae Doona). Now, this is one of the impressive qualities of Broker: the investigators exhibit human frailties, like all of us. 

    There is a tender side to this law woman. Kore-eda drops hints about her not having a child. Again, he takes time to let us know her background. Another cop, a male, has an aversion to blood and braces himself before surveying a crime scene. These are people who might get turned off by a show like CSI. By making these characters behave like they are one of us, Kore-eda shortens the distance between them and us. Yes, these are integral players, but they are not the prime focus of the Broker. They are merely the facilitators and catalysts. In other words, “brokers.”

    And just like any of the Japanese masters that Kore-eda gets often compared to Yasujiro Ozu or Mikio Naruse, two filmmakers whose work I occasionally turn to when I need some comfort or answers pertaining to familial relationships he infuses, as always, his work with enough details to make the whole thing feel alive. 

    We get characters reflecting on life and their parental instincts trying to make sense of their choices and of others, the nature and ethics of adoption, how some people see it as “protection” and not “abandonment”… The concept of the ‘baby box’ itself becomes a topic of thought-provoking debate: Does it have a corrupting influence on mothers? Or does it save lives? 

    And this reflective quality is also achieved by enveloping us in the ambient sounds or visuals a tree swaying in the breeze, or clothes hung up to dry outside a laundromat or underscoring some of these solemn moments with slow guitar or piano notes. There are also conversations over food, a characteristic quality of many Asian films, Korean films especially. Isn’t it why we watch the work of these immensely perceptive foreign filmmakers? To feel alive and to study various lifestyles? We rarely find this level of detailing in Indian films today.

    Kore-eda keeps the proceedings interesting by weaving multiple threads, which include a murder investigation running in parallel and a few gangsters, bringing up the possibility of their links with one or more principal characters. Challenging choices are to be made, both by men and women. 

    In a much later scene, we see a strange alchemy forming between two people who, a while ago, seemed far apart owing to disagreements in principles. One of the film’s most delicate moments happens inside a Ferris wheel pod, recalling a relatively more heartwarming and sweeter moment inside a similar spot in Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise. The circumstances differ in both cases, though.

    Through Broker, Kore-eda asks us to hold our judgements until we get to know these characters more and, hopefully, get a better sense of why some people do certain things, even when all our questions don’t find their answers.

  • Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda to develop multiple projects for Netflix

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Celebrated Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda is working on a film and a series for Netflix as the streamer expands its live-action lineup from the country. Kore-eda, known for his humanist stories, became the first Japanese director in 21 years to win the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for his 2018 film “Shoplifters”.

    The critically-acclaimed film looks at a ragtag bunch of shoplifters who welcome a lonely young girl in their unusual family. His other films include “Nobody Knows”, “Still Walking”, “After the Storm” and “Like Father, Like Son”.

    “Netflix and I are teaming up to create a drama series and a big-budget movie that is different from my previous works. You still need to wait for a bit before they’re finished and delivered to you. I incorporate different elements from those in theatre movies and try to create exciting works. Please look forward to them,” the director said in a video message, shared and translated by the streamer.

    Kore-eda said that the film he is making for Netflix will be different in scale from his previous movies while the drama series could only be realised through his collaboration with the streamer.

    The noted Japanese director (59) said he will be working with several young directors on the drama as he is also involved as a showrunner. Though he will direct several episodes by himself, Kore-eda said, “This time I try to incorporate young directors and work with them. This is also a big appeal for me to work on this project.”

    The filmmaker, who fell in love with films while watching them with his mother, a huge movie buff and made his showbiz start in television, made a case for “breaking old boundaries and limitations” to give birth to new creators and new works in his video.

    “Realistically, radical films normally have little chance of being screened in theaters. In the end, they would not be seen by the audience. It’s not just in Japan but in every country. Through streaming, these films can be actually born into the world. I think it’s important. It’s definitely a stage for that. I think it’s a very positive situation,” he said giving the example of American films and documentaries on streaming that have won Oscars.

    Netflix is expanding its lineup in Japan where it will work with a diverse roster of creators. “We hope to play a role in the history of great local talent finding their voices and delivering them to audiences everywhere, from Japan to the world,” the streamer said.

  • Director Hirokazu Koreeda’s Korean debut ‘Broker’ adds actor-singer IU

    By Express News Service
    Actor-singer IU is all set to star in Palm d’Or winning Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Korean directorial debut.

    ​The film is tentatively titled ‘Broker’. Soompi confirmed the news about the development while quoting a source close to the production.

    “It is true that IU will be starring in the film.” IU, whose real name is Lee Ji-eun, is well-known for starring in popular dramas like My Mister, Hotel del Luna, and The Producers.

    Notably, Kore-eda’s acclaimed drama ‘Shoplifters’ won the director the Palm d’Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

    ‘Broker’ will also feature Parasite star Song Kang-ho, Kingdom star Bae Doona and Gang Dong-wan of Peninsula fame.

    Broker is said to be a story about baby boxes, which are set up for people who are no longer able to provide for their babies to anonymously give them up.

    Filming of ‘Broker’ is expected to commence this year.