Japanese film director Kiyoshi Kurosawa bagged the Best Director award at the recently concluded Cannes Film Festival on Saturday. Kurosawa's movie Kishibe No Tabi (Journey to the Shore) was one of the entries at the festival's Un Certain Regard section.
Kishibe No Tabi is a Japan-France collaboration based on the novel with the same title by Kazumi Yumoto. A romantic drama with some ghost elements, the film talks about a man who, after drowning at sea, finally returned to his wife three years later. It focuses on the journey of the reunited couple who were portrayed by actors Tadanobu Asano and Eri Fukatsu.
The couple goes traveling around Japan and enjoys a casual relationship with the locals. As time goes by, the woman begins to recover from the tragic loss caused by the sudden death of her husband.
"The jurors managed to find brilliance in this low-key and modest film, and this is something that can only happen at Cannes," said Kurosawa as he delivered a speech upon winning the award.
The 59-year-old director, who originally came from Japan's Hyogo Prefecture, is popular for making films based on human drama. Some of his other renowned works include Akarui Mirai and Tokyo Sonata, which were also entries in the same film festival back in 2003 and 2008, respectively. The latter also won the Jury Prize in the same Un Certain Regard section of the prestigious film festival awards.
Other winners under the same section include Rams (top prize winner) by Grimu Hakonarson of Iceland; The High Sun (jury prize winner) by Dalibor Matanic of Croatia; and The Treasure (talent prize winner) by Corneliu Porumboiu, which talks about a man who was asked by his neighbor to help in finding the buried treasure in the garden that belongs to his grandparents.
Kishibe No Tabi was one of the 19 films coming from 21 countries that are listed under the section. The film is scheduled to hit theaters in Japan by October.
At the awards ceremony, Kurosawa told reporters how he was approached by Italian actress Isabella Rossellini, president of the jury, who told him his movie reminded her of Ingrid Bergman, her late mother and also an award-winning actress.
"She said, 'I was surprised to see there is a movie that deals with such a sentiment,' and it made an impression on me," said Kurosawa.
