Among the guns and pornos looking for a good movie at blockbuster is tough. With titles like “Fool’s Gold” getting an entire shelf top to bottom it is amazing that a film like “Japón” is even in the store. On a total whim I watched “Japón” and I am pleased to say it is the best movie I have seen in a long time. Maybe even the best movie I have seen since “Indigènes” last summer. “Japón” may be old news to some of you. Released in 2002 the Spanish language film with English subtitles written and directed by Carlos Reygadas is available on DVD. This is the movie I would make if I made movies. One reviewer called it “a movie unafraid of taking itself seriously”. But the movie is better than that.
It captures brutality and kindness by leveling all it’s characters. The landscape is as much a star in this film as any actor. The cinematography lends an almost documentary quality to the drama, but does so objectively. The camera is capturing life without an opinion. In a time when children grow up not knowing where chickens come from (not the grocery store) the film has some grotesque and jarring moments. The movie is a metaphor and every scene is poetic.
Interested in learning more about this movie?