Japan has selected Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s luminously cerebral French-language feature All of a Sudden as its submission for the best international feature category at the 99th Academy Awards.
The Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan, known as Eiren, announced the choice Wednesday. It marks the second time a Hamaguchi film has represented Japan at the Oscars, following Drive My Car, which was selected five years ago and went on to win best international feature while also earning nominations for best picture, director and adapted screenplay.
All of a Sudden premiered to acclaim at Cannes in May, where co-stars Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto shared the best actress prize. The win made Okamoto the first Japanese actress to receive Cannes’ best actress honor.
Set largely at a nursing home outside Paris, the film stars Efira as Marie-Lou, the facility’s director, who is attempting to introduce a compassion-based approach to elder care amid chronic understaffing and resistance from some of her employees. A chance encounter brings her into the orbit of Mari (Okamoto), a Japanese theater director with terminal cancer, and the two women form an intense friendship that reshapes both of their lives.
