It seems that for Japanese filmmakers, all roads to international artistic prestige now lead through France. In addition to getting their elite auteur ticket validated by the Cannes Film Festival, directors like Hirokazu Kore-eda, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and now Ryusuke Hamaguchi have made French-language films.
But Hamaguchi¡¯s ¡°All of a Sudden,¡± which premiered in this year¡¯s Cannes competition, is the most successful ¡ª and not only because its leads, Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto, were jointly awarded Cannes best actress honors.
More so than his Japanese peers, Hamaguchi has adroitly integrated his French influences, such as the dialogue-heavy films of Eric Rohmer, into a film that is unmistakably his ¡ª and one of his best.
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