All of a Sudden

Perhaps listening is the most radical gesture of contemporary cinema. And nobody understands that better right now than the Japanese Oscar winner Ryusuke Hamaguchi, who in his latest stroke of genius creates a utopian new world over three brilliant hours full of conversations.

“All of a Sudden” tells of two women in Paris: Marie-Lou runs a care home and wants to put the Humanitude method into practice: more time, attention and dignity for the residents. Mari, a Japanese theatre director with serious cancer, looks on stage for similar forms of togetherness. Their chance encounter becomes the beginning of a friendship whose intimacy fits no definition of love or friendship.

As once with Éric Rohmer, walks and conversations become great adventures of thought. But Hamaguchi’s humanism is not mere escapism. Precisely where predatory capitalism measures even care by its usefulness, he discovers small utopias in which weakness is not regarded as a deficiency. Efira and Okamoto lend this closeness a light, luminous naturalness for which they were awarded best actress at Cannes. Yes, “All Of A Sudden” is a film about illness and death, but one that gives more life with every scene, and that shows the most unforgettable foot massage in film history. You only believe it once you have seen it. A masterpiece of tenderness.