After the extraordinary international success of the Oscar-winning Drive My Car, writer-director Ryusuke Hamaguchi turned away from the noise and quietly made this small-scale independent film, a work of simplicity and grace about a rural community and the developers who want to built a “glamping” retreat in the woods. The protagonist, Takumi, is a taciturn woodsman whose natural authority the developers seek to co-opt… but things don’t quite work out that way. Hamaguchi invests this all-too familiar ecological scenario not with drama, but with a rapt attention to Takumi’s way of life: how he chops wood, forages for mushrooms, or takes the measure of an icy stream. That’s not to suggest that nothing happens — there is conflict; change; tragedy — but rather than declare its intentions the film seeks to embody the patient virtues of living in harmony with nature, invites us to absorb them, and reflect.
Grand Jury Prize, Venice 2023
Community Partner
Hitoshi Omika, Ryo Nishikawa, Ryuji Kosaka, Ayaka Shibutani, Hazuki Kikuchi
Japan
2023
Showcase
In Japanese with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Producer
Satoshi Takata
Screenwriter
Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Cinematography
Yoshio Kitagawa
Editor
Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Azusa Yamazaki
Production Design
Masato Nunobe
Original Music
Eiko Ishibashi
Director
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Ryusuke Hamaguchi was born in Japan on December 16th, 1978. In 2008, Passion, his master degree graduate work from Tokyo University of Arts, was selected to the San Sebastian International Film Festival and Tokyo Filmex. In 2015, his film Happy Hour premiered at the 68th Locarno International Film Festival and won several awards. In 2021, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the 71st Berlinale. At the 74th edition of Cannes, Drive My Car won the Screenplay Prize and 3 independent prizes, including FIPRESCI. The following year it received 4 Academy Award nominations at the 94th Academy Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay. It won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.
Filmography: Passion (2008); Happy Hour (2015); Asako I&II (2018); Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (2021); Drive My Car (2021)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Time and Water
Sara Dosa (Fire of Love) turns her attentions from volcanoes to glaciers in this singular, personal collaboration with the Icelandic writer Andri Snær Magnason, who ruminates on the loss of ties to family and to landscape.
Mistura
This foodie film from Peru tells the story of a newly single socialite reinventing herself — and the local cuisine — after her husband has left her for a younger woman. Along the way, she finds support from unexpected places...
Hanami
On the volcanic island Cape Verde, young Nana is on the cusp of self-discovery. When her long-absent mother returns, the lyricism and magic of Nana's childhood take a different shape. Winner of the Best Emerging Director Award, Locarno Film Festival.
Everybody to Kenmure Street
This rousing documentary (100% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) never puts a foot wrong as it recreates a tense, prolonged stand-off between the police and the citizens of Glasgow when an Immigration Enforcement squad attempt to arrest two men from their homes.
Another World
This hit anime from Hong Kong gives us an unpredictable, sometimes darkly karmic tale taking place on either side of the afterlife involving a headstrong princess with bad karma and the spirit guide who tries to help her get on a better path.