All of a Sudden

Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s first foray into foreign-language filmmaking, a French-language drama, might appear daunting, what with the subtitles, the 196-minute running time, and much of the action taking place in an old people’s home. Not exactly date-night fodder. Yet you would be remiss to pass it by.

The opening scene sets the tone: Paris care home manager Marie-Lou (Benedetta’s Virginie Efira) is napping in the bucolic grounds while one of her patients enjoys a smoke. The home is called the Garden of Freedom, an apt name for a place that aspires to be more than just a stopping-off point before death for its residents. Marie-Lou aims to provide the best care to her patients, but is up against budget restrictions, corporate managers and staff resistant to her innovative regime.

The home was once a psychiatric hospital, which is of relevance later, when Marie-Lou encounters Tomoki (Kodai Kurosaki), a youth with learning difficulties who has escaped his wards and is running free through the streets of Paris. As luck would have it, Marie-Lou speaks fluent Japanese – what were the chances?! Tomoki’s uncle is an acclaimed actor Goro (Kyozo Nagatsuka), starring in a play directed by Mari (Tao Okamoto). They invite Marie-Lou to their show about Franco Basaglia, a psychiatrist instrumental in dismantling mental hospitals throughout Italy. Hamaguchi returns to Basaglia’s fundamental question: ‘Are healthy people truly alive?’ throughout the film.

Where Evil Does Not Exist was a dialogue-light film with an Eiko Ishibashi score that did much of the talking for it, All of a Sudden is chock full of chatter, much of it bouncing between Japanese and French, as Marie-Lou and Mari spend a night discussing big questions such as the relationship between capitalism and democracy. Mari even uses a whiteboard and marker pens to literally spell all of this out. If his 2021 opus Drive My Car referenced Chekhov, this film is almost certainly a nod to Brecht.

This joyous film will restore your faith in humanity

This might sound like a didactic snore-fest, but there are real insights here into how society works and its inherent problems. It also permits Marie-Lou to espouse the philosophy behind her care approach. Just as the characters patiently and tenderly care for one another, so Hamaguchi takes all the time he needs to give us a ‘101’ in love. The film spans little more than a month and shifts between the verdant Paris home and Mari’s country house near Kyoto. At heart, it is about the importance of nurturing relationships, an ode to decent people doing the best they can for others. A scene with finger puppets might reduce you to tears, while an almost orgiastic foot-rubbing session brings joy. 

In the midst of the film’s fabulous cast, Efira’s performance is its warm beating heart. Hamaguchi underlines the importance of nature to humanity’s well-being. Birdsong and verdant settings are a reminder of this. Despite the heavy themes, this ultimately joyous film will restore your faith in humanity. None of us is normal if you look at us closely, says Goro. And maybe, just maybe, we’re not that bad, after all.

All of a Sudden premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.