Cannes Diary #10: Children are the future?

by Elisa Giudici

CLOSE could be a surprise Palme d'Or winner

Today’s schedule was three main competition titles heavy with awards possibility. Two of them look at the world through the eyes of children, their ingenuity being endangered by adults but also by the mere fact of growing up and facing society’s expectations. The other is a political thriller that tries the patience! Let’s dive in...

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The Furniture: Framing Perpetual Childhood in The Truth

"The Furniture," by Daniel Walber, is our weekly series on Production Design. You can click on the images to see them in magnified detail.

Towards the end of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s The Truth, legendary actress Fabienne Dangeville (Catherine Deneuve) admits something quite harsh. “I prefer to have been a bad mother, a bad friend and a good actress,” she announces at dinner. Her talent and her single-mindedness have given her a lengthy career, multiple Césars, and the freedom to take liberties with her own story. Her soon-to-be-published memoir is the occasion for which her daughter, Lumir (Juliette Binoche), has come for a visit, bringing her American husband (Ethan Hawke) and their daughter, Charlotte (Clémentine Grenier). And this short trip quickly becomes a long one, once Lumir agrees to step in as her mother’s assistant on the set of a science-fiction film.

Lumir’s presence becomes an opportunity to relive and relitigate family history. It’s not just that Fabienne’s memoir strays from the truth, but that their entire relationship is based on contested memories. Kore-eda suggests that it might be Fabienne’s work that has so deeply wounded her personal relationships. Has the vocation of make-believe crept into the rest of her life, encouraging her to freely reshape her own memories and ignore the truths of those closest to her? Has acting made Fabienne a forever-child?

And how on earth do you express that with production design?

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Interview: Hirokazu Kore-eda on "Shoplifters," his process and working with child actors

by Murtada Elfadl

Kore-eda with his Palme d'Or for Shoplifters. Is an Oscar nomination next?

In Shoplifters Hirokazu Kore-eda (Like Father Like Son, After the Storm) tells us a story about how families unite with bonds of love and real connection rather than accidents of birth. Perhaps the best way to describe it is “humanist” as it puts connection, kindness and love at the forefront. According to the press notes, the director was inspired to write the story after learning about incidents of pension fraud in Japan - where families illegally received the pensions of parents who had already died years ago - and the severe criticism the perpetrators got.

I am wondering why people get so angry over such minor infractions even though there are many lawbreakers out there committing far more serious crimes without condemnation.

Shoplifters traces the relationships of a makeshift family that survives through petty crime, shoplifting and the grandmother's pension. Kore-eda, who wrote, directed and edited the film, won the Palme D’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The film was a runaway commercial success in Japan and is considered a frontrunner for a nomination in this year’s Foreign Language Film Category at the Oscars. On a break from shooting his latest film with Juliette Binoche, Catherine Deneuve and Ethan Hawke, we spoke with him on the phone about Shoplifters, his writing process, and why he’s great with child actors. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity...

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Hirokazu Koreeda is directing an all star cast!

by Nathaniel R

Koreeda, Deneuve, and Hawke working on a movie called "Truth"

Somehow this had escaped our attention so apologize to those for whom it is old news. Thanks to Juliette Binoche for getting us caught us up to speed on her instagram, sharing photos from the set of the next film from Japanese master Hirokazu Koreeda. Koreeda was already in our brain because his current brilliant film Shoplifters, which opens in the US around Thanksgiving time. It won the Palme d'Or at Cannes and we hope it's nominated for the Oscar for Foreign Language Film.

His next picture is called Truth. It's his first non-Japanese language picture with an all star French cast plus Ethan Hawke...

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Cannes Closing Ceremony - the Palme to "Shoplifters"

by Nathaniel R

The 71st edition of Cannes has ended. The closing ceremony started all fiery with Asia Argento reminding the audience that she was raped at the festival and Harvey Weinstein used to use Cannes as his "hunting ground" but after that impassioned speech, this settled quickly into the usual Closing Ceremony format of jury introductions, and strange presentation of awards in which "presenters" don't actually do the presenting but then turn to Madame President (in this case Cate Blanchett in a dress with a bow the size of her entire body on its back) to read out the winners.

So here's one last gif-heavy look at Cannes, which is really our first look (since the films have yet to open anywhere) at the winners from the closing ceremony. Many of these titles will go on to further glories at other festivals and hopefully in theatrical release in the US and some will definitely be Oscar foreign language film submissions. But even if this is the end of their awards run, winning prizes at Cannes remains a very big deal...

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