Worth: $18.00
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Cast:
Hitoshi Omika, Ryô Nishikawa, Ryûji Kosaka, Ayaka Shibutani
Intro:
… this beautiful Japanese film is both a puzzle and a pleasure.
From its enigmatic title to its oblique storytelling, this beautiful Japanese film is both a puzzle and a pleasure. Perhaps the director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi is saying that evil is a human concept if not, as such, an essential human quality. Nature can be raw and even ‘violent’, but it does not exploit, and it is not capable of being driven by greed.
The film takes place in village called Mizubiki, which is far enough away from the ever-sprawling Tokyo to remain a fully wild place. Unfortunately, it is near enough to the city for thrusting ‘adventure travel’ types to think of setting up a ‘glamping’ site for city tourists. The word doesn’t have a Japanese equivalent, but the concept can still be imported.
Living in a cabin by an old forest is the central protagonist of the film, Takumi. His life is in balance with nature. He only cuts down the trees that he needs, and he splits them with practised ease every day to fuel his wood-burning stove. He lives with his daughter Hana, and she too loves wildlife and strives to live in harmony with her surroundings.
Hamaguchi is something of a darling of the festival and art film circuit. This one – like his profound and engaging Drive My Car – comes with a clutch of awards, including best film at the London Film Festival last year. It is hard to describe Hamaguchi’s films without using labels such as slow or stylised. It is certainly the case that he makes very few concessions to ideas like action or high drama. Rather, he tries to recreate experience in itself.
The film opens with a travelling shot of a forest that most directors would have cut by a third, but he is making a particular point here. In order to be in tune with nature, you have to slow down. By really looking, you can notice things that someone who rushes through would miss.
By extension, if you are in a hurry all the time, then this film is not for you. Once you decelerate though, you get into a state which is neither meditative nor dreamy but merely attentive. In that frame of mind, the small nuances of diction or attitude come into focus in a way that allows for great psychological depth. You have to engage with this story at the same pace as Takumi lives his life.
Evil Does Not Exist will resonate. By ploughing his own path, Hamaguchi once again makes a solid contribution to world cinema.
