“The flame will remain in the eye of your spirit even when your eyes will be closed.” With her second feature Renoir [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film], presented in competition at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, Japanese filmmaker Chie Hayakawa clearly confirms, in an aerial and delicate style completely in contrast with modern flashy practices, as a worthy heir to the peaceful cinema of Yasujirō Ozu, all the subtle promises found in Plan 75 [+leggi anche:
recensione
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intervista: Chie Hayakawa
scheda film], which had been revealed on the Croisette in the Un Certain Regard section in 2022.

“I’d like to be an orphan”. As her teacher highlights, 11-year-old Fuki (Yui Suzuki) has a lot of imagination and few children her age can write like her. Still, reality is much closer than he thinks since her father (Lily Franky) is in hospital with terminal cancer, while her mother (Hikari Ishida) is painfully struggling with the situation, filtering her emotions with extreme restraint, holding it all in to carry on with her professional career as best as she can, and trying to imagine a future while dealing with the contingencies of the present. “There are things that children can’t understand”, she tells her only daughter with whom communication is reduced to the daily minimum.

But Fuki doesn’t care for that because she has her own inner world, a universe of dreams and sudden interest for telepathy, hypnosis and eventually, bad curses. A mental territory of concentration that she explores in secret, with confidence and perseverance all while discreetly listening to the adults around her, carrying on her school life as the summer holidays are approaching and regularly visiting her father in hospital. It is as though a parallel existence is opening up to her, a zone where her ingenuity can even become dangerous…

Shot and edited with a wealth of details and fluidity, Renoir (a title that, we will discover, is inspired by a painting by the celebrated artist known under the names The little Irene or Le title girl with the blue ribbon) draws a very subtle and progressive portrait of grief and the different ways of trying to solve problems of communication. A kind of in-vivo psychological behavioral study, of cognitive therapy and faith in miracles and the occult, seen from the angle of childhood and Japanese culture, the film also manages to give a true identity (and complexity) to the other characters beside its very endearing young protagonist. With a soft charm, soothing, intelligent and mesmerising, it demonstrates with great yet non-ostentation mastery all the potential of its director. It’s “something simple, but that could amaze you. Empty your heart and your minds, look me in the eyes.”

Renoir was produced by Japanese outfits Loaded Films and Happinet Corporation, with Arte France Cinéma and Ici et Là Productions (France), Akanga Film Asia (Singapore), KawanKawan Media (Indonesia), Nathan Studios (Philippines) and Daluyong Studios (Philippines). Goodfellas is handling international sales.