Sydney Film Festival 2008 – Japon Review

Japon is part of the Nuevo Mexico section of the festival and is a joint Mexican/Spanish production directed by Carlos Reygadas. It tells the story of a suicidal man who finds something different in a remote rural valley.

We saw this last night at the Dendy Opera Quays, a boutique cinema complex conveniently located by theOpera House. Anyway, before the screening we were treated to a short introduction by the film’s director. He was very sweet and explained a few of the film’s technical details, including a shy apology for the fact that as his first film, it has some obviously apparent flaws.

One of the more interesting aspects of Reygadas’ work is that he doesn’t use trained actors at all, and the kind of performances he manages to draw from his inexperienced stars are exceptional for their raw honesty. I’m sure the distance created by a foreign language helps in that regard, as a non-Spanish speaker I’m not distracted by intonations or awkwardly delivered dialogue in the same way as somebody who is fluent.

Japon proved to be a very interesting film. One of the things that I enjoy about foreign cinema is the glimpse that it affords of the way members of a different culture view the world. Like any art form, this is hard enough to grasp and understand at the best of times, and can be even more difficult when you’re dealing in a context that isn’t necessarily shared. But I enjoy that challenge, and Japon definitely falls into that category.

I’m not sure how to describe this movie. The story, while linear, is different to most cinematic storytelling. I think the best way I can put it is that this is more of an intuitive story, where plot developments and character growth is more similar to real life in that unexpected events bring surprising results.

Visually it is clear that this is a first film. Reygadas makes use of several adventurous techniques in his first time out and not all of them are successful. However, these minor technical issues manage to fit within the kind of story that Reygadas is telling.

All in all Japon was an enjoyable film and provides an interesting look at human relationships. Reygadas has since made two other films (Battle in Heaven and Silent Light), both of which are also screening at the festival.

~ by wrothful on June 7, 2008.