A child humanoid leads Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s latest film

TOKYO (AP) — In acclaimed Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda's latest film, a grieving couple turns to technology to recreate what they have lost.

“Sheep in the Box,” opening in U.S. theaters Friday, centers on a married couple whose son has died. To cope with their grief, they commission a humanoid made in his exact likeness.

The title refers to “The Little Prince,” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s children’s book, in which a sheep is imagined as being hidden inside a box. For Kore-eda, the reference suggests that some of the most valuable things in life may be intangible, sustained by connections that cannot be seen.

The film, a family drama set in the not-too-distant future, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this year.

“It explores how a couple tries to rework their relationship with their child, and so it’s not that different from the stories I’ve explored in my past works,” Kore-eda told The Associated Press.

Born in Tokyo in 1962, Kore-eda started directing documentaries after graduating from Waseda University. He generally writes, directs and edits his films, an enormous undertaking in filmmaking, but it gives him near-total control.

His 2013 feature “Like Father, Like Son,” a heartbreaking exploration of fatherhood centering on babies who get switched at birth, won the Jury Prize at Cannes.

His 2018 “Shoplifters,” which won the Palme d’Or and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, was about a poverty-stricken family that survives partly by shoplifting.

In 2019, he directed French actors Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche in “The Truth.” In the 2022 film “Broker,” he directed Korean actors, including Song Kang-ho, who won Best Actor at Cannes.

Despite the demands of his productions, Kore-eda is known for trying to ensure that everyone enjoys working on his sets. He has also been a longtime and vocal opponent of harassment in the industry.

That approach stands out in an industry known for punishing hours and low pay, particularly in Japan. Anyone found harassing another person while working on one of Kore-eda’s films is immediately removed from the production.

Adding to the challenge of ensuring benevolent filmmaking is that his works often have children as leading characters.

In his 2004 “Nobody Knows,” children live without adult supervision, as they scrounge for food and live without running water or electricity.

That film propelled Yuya Yagira to stardom. Yagira, still active as an actor today, won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival, at 14.

“Sheep in the Box” also features a striking performance by child actor Rimu Kuwaki, who took on the difficult role of playing a robot in his feature-film debut.

Kore-eda denied he saw children as a necessary element in his filmmaking. He merely likes the style of taking the view of a child to explore the adult world.

“It’s a heavy responsibility. We may be the first adults besides parents and teachers these children may come in contact with,” he said.

“We want them to go home thinking all the adults were hard-working and having fun.”

Kore-eda is surprisingly disarming for a filmmaker whose works address such serious themes. He laughs easily.

When this reporter said she wanted to ask the same question she asked Japanese director Akira Kurosawa many years ago — “What is filmmaking for you?” — he didn’t skip a beat asking what Kurosawa’s answer was.

“If you take movies away from me, I am left with nothing,” was Kurosawa’s answer.

Kore-eda jokingly pretended to give the same answer before offering his own.

“Movies are the only hobby I’ve ever had. That became my job. Thinking about that hobby 24 hours a day became my life and my job,” he said.

“I am so blessed.”

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Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama