CANNES, France — Director and screenwriter Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Shoshite Chichi ni Naru” (Like Father, Like Son) won the Jury Prize at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, which was held from May 15 to 26.
This is the first award at Cannes for Kore-eda, whose previous films in competition were “Distance” (2001), “Nobody Knows” (2004), and “Air Doll” (2009). He is also known for such films as “Maborosi,” “After Life,” “Still Walking,” and “I Wish.”
His latest film stars Masaharu Fukuyama as Ryota, who has earned everything he has by his hard work, and believes nothing can stop him from pursuing his perfect life and living as a winner. Then one day, he and his wife, Midori (Machiko Ono), get an unexpected phone call from the hospital. Their 6-year-old son, Keita, is not their son — the hospital gave them the wrong baby.
Ryota is forced to make a life-changing decision, to choose between “nature” and “nurture.” Meanwhile, seeing Midori’s devotion to Keita even after learning his origin, and communicating with the rough yet caring family who raised his blood son for the last six years, Ryota also starts to question himself: Has he really been a “father” all these years?
Yoko Maki and Lily Franky also star.
Among the other films in competition was Takashi Miike’s thriller “Wara no Tate” (Shield of Straw), starring Takao Osawa, Nanako Matsushima and Tatsuya Fujiwara.
The Palme d’Or went to “Blue is the Warmest Colour” (France, Belgium, Spain), directed by Abdellatif Kechiche. Other prize-winning feature films were:
Grand Prix — “Inside Llewyn Davis” (USA), directed by Ethan and Joel Coen; Best Director — Amat Escalante for “Heli” (Mexico, Germany, Netherlands, France); Best Screenplay — Jia Zhangke for “A Touch of Sin” (China, Japan); Best Actress — Bérénice Bejo for “The Past” (France, Italy), directed by Asghar Farhadi; Best Actor — Bruce Dern for “Nebraska” (USA), directed by Alexander Payne.
The jury for feature films, led by director Steven Spielberg, consisted of directors Naomi Kawase, Ang Lee, Cristian Mungiu and Lynne Ramsay, and actors Daniel Auteuil, Vidya Balan, Nicole Kidman and Christoph Waltz.