TOKYO (AP) — In acclaimed Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s latest film, a grieving couple turns to technology to recreate what they have lost.“Sheep in the Box,” opening in U.S. theaters Friday, centers on a married couple whose son has died. To cope with their grief, they commission a humanoid made in his exact likeness.The title refers to “The Little Prince,” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s children’s book, in which a sheep is imagined as being hidden inside a box. For Kore-eda, the reference suggests that some of the most valuable things in life may be intangible, sustained by connections that cannot be seen.The film, a family drama set in the not-too-distant future, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this year.“It explores how a couple tries to rework their relationship with their child, and so it’s not that different from the stories I’ve explored in my past works,” Kore-eda told The Associated Press.
Born in Tokyo in 1962, Kore-eda started directing documentaries after graduating from Waseda University. He generally writes, directs and edits his films, an enormous undertaking in filmmaking, but it gives him near-total control. His 2013 feature “Like Father, Like Son,” a heartbreaking exploration of fatherhood centering on babies who get switched at birth, won the Jury Prize at Cannes.
