Screened in the main competition at this year¡¯s Cannes Film Festival, Chie Hayakawa¡¯s second feature, ¡°Renoir,¡± is rather unlike her first, 2022¡¯s ¡°Plan 75,¡± which also premiered at Cannes and became a favorite on the festival circuit.
In contrast to the earlier film¡¯s clear concept ¡ª the elderly are encouraged to sign up for state-sponsored euthanasia in a near-future Japan ¡ª the movingly impressionistic ¡°Renoir¡± is a loosely plotted journey through the life and mind (including the vivid dreams) of an 11-year-old girl (talented newcomer Yui Suzuki) as her father succumbs to terminal cancer.
In scripting and directing ¡°Renoir,¡± Hayakawa drew on memories of her own father¡¯s death from cancer when she was her protagonist¡¯s age and the film feels deeply rooted in the characters¡¯ pasts and intensely alive to their present moment. One parallel is the 1993 Shinji Somai masterpiece ¡°Moving,¡± which also features a strong-willed girl (Tomoko Tabata) dealing with a family crisis ¡ª in her case, her parents¡¯ divorce.
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