The lineup of the 66th Cannes Film Festival has been announced, and with it comes news that Japan will be represented by Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Like Father, Like Son (out Oct. 5, 2013) and Takashi Miike’s Shield of Straw (out April 26, 2013), both of which will be screened in competition.
Like Father, Like Son stars Masaharu Fukuyama as a successful family man named Ryota who discovers that his 6-year-old son was actually switched at birth with the son of another couple. Ryota, his wife Midori (Machiko Ono), and the other couple involved (Lily Frankyand Yoko Maki) are forced to consider what it really means to be parents and which bonds are most important.
Fukuyama, who played a father for the first time in the film, will probably be busy shooting a TV drama during the festival, but expressed his desire to attend if at all possible due to the fact that it may be a once in a lifetime opportunity.
This will be Kore-eda’s 3rd film in competition at Cannes in the past 9 years, so there is not as much anticipation and anxiety involved this time around, but he added that he’s looking forward to experiencing it with first-timers like Fukuyama and other members of the staff and cast.
Meanwhile, Shield of Straw brings Miike to Cannes for a third consecutive year, after screenings of Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai and For Love’s Sake in the previous two years. However, the director had a humble reaction to the announcement, calling it unexpected and exciting.
The 66th Cannes Film Festival will run from May 15-26 on the French Riviera. This year, Steven Spielberg will serve as jury president.
Source:Eiga.com , nipponcinema