Hirokazu Koreeda, Screenwriter Trade Praise at Cannes

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:41 JST, May 19, 2023

CANNES, France — Following the official screening of “Kaibutsu” (“Monster”) at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, the film’s director, Hirokazu Koreeda, said he enjoyed collaborating with screenwriter Yuji Sakamoto.

“As a screenwriter, he carefully constructs stories I could never write, and creates characters I could never imagine,” Koreeda, 60, said at a press conference on Thursday in praise of Sakamoto. “It was such a fun collaboration.”

The film was screened Wednesday evening in Cannes as one of the feature films in competition at the festival.

“I lack a little bit of Mr. Koreeda’s strong sense of social responsibility and his kindness toward other people, so I added a little more of that to the movie,” Sakamoto, 56, said.

The film depicts an incident at a suburban school from multiple perspectives. Ryuichi Sakamoto, who died in March, provided the music. The cast includes Sakura Ando, 37, and Eita Nagayama, 40.

The award ceremony at the annual film festival will take place on the evening of May 27 local time.