The fourth day of the competition kicked off with a film that had been eagerly anticipated: the Japanese entry “Sheep in the Box” by Hirokazu Kore-eda. Kore-eda, who won the Palme d’Or in 2019 for “Shoplifters”, is, much like the Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, a major figure in international cinema. With his new film, he has returned to a Japan set in the not-too-distant future. What at first glance sounds like a dystopia ends up as a surprising utopia. But first things first.
Kore-eda’s central theme is the question of what constitutes a family. In “Shoplifters”, a motley crew living off shoplifting comes together to form a community that functions like a loving family. In “Sheep in the Box”, it is a childless couple mourning the death of their son, who died two years ago. The high-tech firm “Rebirth” offers them a humanoid robot replica of their deceased child. Kakeru (Rimu Kuwaki) looks perfect; he is playful and affectionate, though he cannot eat or drink. It is only when he has to undergo surgery following a fall that we see the plastic tubes beneath his abdominal skin.
After a while, the parents (Haruka Ayase and Daigo Yamamoto) realise that the robot boy cannot replace their real son after all and decide to return him. But Kakeru has long since made his own plans; together with other humanoids and a few human children, he meets up in an abandoned school and an empty swimming pool to start a new ‘family’.
In a friendly, unpretentious manner, Kore-eda explores death and grief, and the desire to regain a loved one. The Japanese director had already reflected on life after death in ‘Afterlife’ (1998). In “Sheep in the Box”, he depicts with great empathy the dynamics of the relationship between the parents and their ambivalent feelings towards their robot child. To do so, he needs no long dialogues or subtle hints, nor a terminal illness as in Hamaguchi’s “Soudain”. Kore-eda portrays a slightly futuristic, alienated everyday life in present-day Japan. Of course, the film once again explores the question of what constitutes a family. Not blood ties or social norms, but a free, supportive community. For me, “Sheep in the Box” is a favourite for a major award.
Much the same can be said of ‘El ser querido’ (The Beloved), the first of three Spanish entries in the competition. Director and writer Rodrigo Sorogoyen, who made his Cannes debut four years ago in a side section with ‘As bestas’ (The Beasts, 2022), has now moved up to the competition. Quite rightly so, one might say, if one is familiar with his earlier films and series.
A famous director returns to his homeland after a long absence and offers his adult daughter, with whom he has had no contact for years, a role in his new film. At first glance, “El ser querido” appears to bear a strong resemblance to last year’s Grand Prix winner, Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value”. Yet Sorogoyen’s film begins where “Sentimental Value” ends.
In a lengthy opening sequence, a father (Javier Bardem) and his daughter (Victoria Luengo) meet for the first time in 13 years in a cafetería in Madrid. This scene was filmed in a single 90-minute take using five cameras; 20 minutes of it remain in the final film. It is an opening sequence that is as artful as it is gripping, revealing the lines of conflict in the relationship between father and daughter right from the start. The film project is set in the 1930s in the former Spanish colony of the Sahara. The subject matter reflects Bardem's political commitment to the independence of Western Sahara, on which he has also made a documentary film.
Filming takes place in the desert landscape of Fuerteventura, and the film-within-a-film offers numerous glimpses behind the scenes. With the scorching temperatures, tensions are running high and an open conflict erupts between father and daughter. It is fascinating to observe the different facets of Javier Bardem’s character, from the charming storyteller over dinner with the actors, the loving and devoted father, to the authoritarian director who shouts at the crew and drives the actors to the brink of madness. It would be wonderful to see Sorogoyen among the award winners in the end.
I’m a lot more sceptical about James Gray. ‘Paper Tiger’ is a melodramatic thriller which takes place in 1980s New York, a typical James Gray setting. Irwin (Miles Teller) lives with his wife Hester (Scarlett Johansson) and their two sons in a pretty house in Queens and runs a successful engineering firm. His brother Gary (Adam Driver), a former policeman, dreams of a multi-million-dollar construction project on the Gowanus Canal, on a former industrial site.
In their attempt to get a piece of the action as consultants, they find themselves in conflict with the Russian mafia. It soon becomes clear that their ambitious plan is doomed to fail. So, as is bound to happen when you get involved with the Russian mafia. Irwin fears for his family’s lives, and Gary, too, does not get off unscathed despite his police contacts.
James Gray returns to the Russian milieu of Brighton Beach, the setting for his successful debut ‘Little Odessa’ (1994) 30 years ago, and once again draws on autobiographical elements from his Russian-Jewish family history. Criminal entanglements, brothers on opposite sides of the law, and corrupt structures within the New York Police Department (NYPD). These were also the themes in “The Yards” (2000) and “We Own the Night” (2007). “Paper Tiger” doesn’t add much that’s new, though Joaquin Phoenix – who appeared in four of James Gray’s films – isn’t in this one.
With their sinister tattoos, the Russian mafia thugs look like caricatures as they beat up Irwin and intimidate his sons when he turns up on the premises at night. The Russians are just a sinister bunch. It’s a good thing there are still loving fathers like Irwin, who tells his sons they should never forget, “that I love you to the moon and beyond” . Adam Driver, as brother Gary, strikes the pose of the swaggering businessman who boasts of his insider contacts, yet ultimately sacrifices himself for the family.
With such a spirit of self-sacrifice, it’s no surprise that James Gray effortlessly prefaces the film with a quote from Aeschylus on wealth. No wonder the ‘Hollywood Reporter’ critic eagerly picks up on the cue: “James Gray’s riveting ‘Paper Tiger’ evokes Greek tragedy”. Given some of the plot holes in the script, however, the dramatic structure feels rather forced in its attempt to combine melodrama and crime drama.