(Credit: DVDtown.com
Directed by
Carlos Reygadas
Cast:
Alejandro Ferretis …. The man
Magdalena Flores …. Ascen
Yolanda Villa …. Sabina
MartÃÂn Serrano …. Juan Luis
Rolando Hernández …. The judge
Bernabe Pérez …. The singer
Fernando BenÃÂtez …. Fernando
The Movie:
It took me quite a few tries to get through Carlos Reygadas’ Japon. The picture is a maddening mix of profound images and a snail’s pace. While the film seems worth it at first, the picture gets too far out there for even the most patient viewer. Perhaps the film would appeal to a more understanding critic than myself.
Japon is about a man (Alejandro Ferretis) who decides he wants to kill himself. He travels to a small Mexican village where plans on doing himself in and decides to lodge with a local woman named Ascen (Magdalena Flores) and enjoy himself a few days beforehand. She’s very old, but is excited about the company, and agrees to let him stay in her barn. Within this wilderness, this suicidal man has a profound experience, even finding love with this old woman, but there is still some tragedy that finds him.
On the good side, Carlos Reygadas has made a film that is stunningly gorgeous in places. His images have a natural beauty, and there is definitely no Hollywood influence in even a single frame. When an animal is mutilated early in the piece, the sequence is not tempered in any way. It’s disgusting, but it also feels very real, as if you were watching a documentary about this man’s life. Also, in a Sergio Leone type of way, Reygadas cast this film with people that were not necessarily actors. Instead, these people all seem as if they are real people, and he has just filmed their lives.
Unfortunately, all of this comes with the film’s tedious pace. Too much of nothing goes on for too long. Despite how beautiful a shot can be, watching a man walk on a road, seemingly for ten minutes could drive anyone crazy. You keep waiting for something big to happen, but it never seems to come. Also, while the stark reality of Japon’s images are part of its mystique, watching a man masturbate while fantasizing about a woman making out with Ascen is a bit much to take.
As an experiment, Japon is admirable and can be appreciated on those merits, but as a movie the film just goes on too long. Perhaps another try at watching the film while I’m in a different mood would make a difference, but it’s hard to keep any momentum with the film for very long before boredom sets in. Japon is a film to be admired, but not enjoyed.
STORY: 5/10
ACTING: 8/10
ORIGINALITY: 8/10
LOOK/FEEL: 8/10
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: 2/10
TOTAL POINTS: 31/50
FINAL MOVIE SCORE: 6/10
The DVD:
The Video
The film’s print does seem to have some flaws, but more of that seems to have to do with the film’s original low budget photography. The film is presented in Anamorphic Widescreen with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1.
The Audio
The film’s Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mix is nice enough, but nothing to scream about.
SPECIAL FEATURES: “Making of” Featurette, Trailer
Making of Japon – This Featurette runs about 41 minutes and features a pretty extensive interview with the film’s director. He goes into great detail about how he developed the film and how he found his “actors”.
Trailer – The trailer actually seems a bit more exciting than Japon actually is. The gothic music used in the trailer is found in the film, but not to the same effect
Score: 5.0/10
