Japanese filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi directs 'Soudain', a drama starring Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto. The film follows the friendship between Marie-Lou, a nursing home director, and Mari, an artist battling cancer.
Cannes-winning duo
At the Cannes Film Festival, Efira and Okamoto shared the Best Actress award for their performances in 'Soudain'. Efira, a Belgian actress, plays Marie-Lou, who advocates a care method called humanitude at her Ehpad, or French nursing home. Okamoto plays Mari, a Japanese theater director in Paris dealing with a recurrence of cancer.
The cast also includes Kodai Kurosaki and Jean-Charles Clichet. The film was shot in Paris and Kyoto and includes scenes of general assemblies of caregivers and patient rehabilitation sessions.
Why are we led to treat people like objects?
In an interview, Hamaguchi reflects on the film's themes, his attachment to Éric Rohmer's cinema, his work with his two actresses, the place of the body, and the importance of attention to others.
The duration of the film 'Soudain'.
The humanitude care method divides the nursing home staff within the film. 'Soudain' is a co-production between France, Japan, Germany and Belgium, though some coverage has described it simply as a Japanese film. It was released in French cinemas on August 12.
