CANNES, France (AP) — The Cannes Film Festival is not a place that’s conducive to taking your time. Festivalgoers rush frantically between screenings. The protocol department enforces precisely timed red carpet premieres. Standing ovations are clocked.But one of the most lauded films of this year’s Cannes is a patiently plotted, sensitively told three-hour drama about giving people the time they deserve.Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “All of a Sudden” has been one of the most widely acknowledged knockouts of the festival — in part because of how much it cultivates and nurtures its own gentle rhythm. For anyone who feels life may be moving too fast, the ironically titled “All of a Sudden” may be welcome recalibration.“I face the same issues,” Hamaguchi, the Japanese filmmaker, said in an interview. “Just living and working in a society like the one we live in today, we all feel this. It’s about not having the time and the availability to give our interest to others. To find that time, we have to be conscious about it.”
Hamaguchi spoke over coffee on a quiet morning in Cannes. His manner is humble and reflective, but he also has a steely determination. You would have to make such sprawling humane movies that defy convention. His three-hour 2021 opus, “Drive My Car,” tenderly accrued such power that it became an international sensation, landing four Oscar nominations and becoming the first Japanese film ever nominated for best picture.
