Social Drama 'I, Daniel Blake' Wins Palme d'Or

The 69th Cannes Film Festival was held over 12 days from Wednesday, May 11 to Sunday, May 22, in the upscale resort town of the French Riviera. This year's festival felt more secure, with heightened security checks due to the terrorist attacks in France and Belgium.

The festival opened with Woody Allen's romantic comedy 'Cafe Society,' set in the glamorous Hollywood of the 1930s. Following the red carpet appearance of its stars, including Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, and Blake Lively, a dazzling array of major stars arrived one after another.

For the invited screening of the real-time suspense thriller 'Money Monster,' director Jodie Foster appeared with her cast: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Jack O'Connell, and Dominic West, along with Caitriona Balfe. The area around the main venue was packed with onlookers.

In addition to popular French actors, the festival also saw appearances from Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, Charlize Theron, Elle Fanning, Adam Driver, Justin Timberlake, Anna Kendrick, Viggo Mortensen, rock singer Iggy Pop, Mel Gibson, and director Steven Spielberg.

While mostly blessed with good weather, the mornings and evenings were cool, and strong winds occasionally swept through. This year's Cannes was also marked by a series of unexpected incidents. The most disappointing was the cancellation of the screening of Prince's first starring film, 'Purple Rain,' scheduled for the "Cinema de la Plage" program on the evening of Thursday, May 12, as a tribute to the artist who had passed away suddenly in April.

This program features a large outdoor screen on the public beach near the main venue, where the public can enjoy classic films for free on the beach at night. However, at 9:30 PM, the scheduled start time, an announcement was made stating that the screening had to be canceled due to strong winds blowing sand onto the equipment, which could cause damage.

The jury for the main competition, the festival's most prestigious section where the awards are highly anticipated, consisted of nine members, including jury president George Miller, the Australian director who made a major comeback with 'Mad Max: Fury Road,' along with directors Arnaud Desplechin and László Nemes, and actors Donald Sutherland, Mads Mikkelsen, Kirsten Dunst, and Valeria Golino, as well as Vanessa Paradis.

Although there were no Japanese films selected this year, the competition was rich with acclaimed directors who have won awards at Cannes before, including Palme d'Or winners Ken Loach, the Dardenne brothers, and Cristian Mungiu, as well as Bruno Dumont, Park Chan-wook, Pedro Almodóvar, Brillante Mendoza, Nicolas Winding Refn, Andrea Arnold, and Xavier Dolan.

However, when the results were revealed, I was surprised to find that while the average quality of the films was high, there were few that truly resonated deeply.

The Palme d'Or was awarded to the social drama 'I, Daniel Blake' by British master Ken Loach, a poignant depiction of the suffering of ordinary people caught in an absurd welfare system. This was a solid choice. I also have no objections to Cristian Mungiu winning Best Director and the Best Actress award.

However, I was somewhat taken aback by the results, where films highly praised by critics, such as German director Maren Ade's 'Toni Erdmann,' which garnered significant pre-festival buzz in its Cannes debut, and Jim Jarmusch's 'Paterson,' which featured a standout performance by Masatoshi Nagase in a special appearance, went home empty-handed. Conversely, Xavier Dolan's 'It's Only the End of the World,' which elicited laughter and boos during press screenings, received the Grand Prix (second prize), and Olivier Assayas's spiritual film 'Personal Shopper,' which was not well-received by Japanese critics accustomed to J-horror, shared the Best Director award. These outcomes left me with a sense of unease.

Japanese Films Shine in the "Un Certain Regard" Section

Finally, I would like to mention two topics related to Japan. First, director Naomi Kawase, known for films like 'Sweet Bean' and 'Still the Water,' was appointed the first Japanese jury president for the short film competition and the Cinéfondation section, which is for student films.

Second, regarding the "Un Certain Regard" section, the second official category of the festival, where the quality of films is improving year by year. This section (which featured 18 films this year) included two Japanese entries: Hirokazu Kore-eda's 'After the Storm' and Koji Fukada's 'Harmonium.' Kore-eda, along with his cast members Hiroshi Abe, Yoko Maki, and Kirin Kiki, attended the Cannes premiere of the former. For 'Harmonium,' director Fukada and his cast, including Tadanobu Asano, Kanji Furutachi, and Mari Natsuki, were present for the official screening. One of the cast members, Tatsuya Ohga, was unable to attend the screening day and arrived the following day.

Furthermore, 'Harmonium' received the Jury Prize in the "Un Certain Regard" section (the jury included actress Marthe Keller, Swedish director Ruben Östlund, and actor Diego Luna, among five members). Additionally, 'The Red Turtle: A Story of a Island,' a co-production between Studio Ghibli and a French company, directed by Dutch filmmaker Michaël Dudok de Wit, won a Special Jury Prize in the same section. This resulted in a double win for Japanese-related films.

Overall, while I felt a slight sense of dissatisfaction, these Japanese-related highlights were moments of pride for me.