Carlos Reygadas: Japón

Typically, we have either an omniscient or a first-person narrator. But there’s probably another more fluid mode and this is the way I work. It’s closely related to the way I dream, it’s a space where nothing is very clear. We don’t always know who’s speaking or where things come from but there is a flow that connects everything. During the process of writing a film, I experience a similar perception. I spend a long time thinking about a film before putting a letter on paper; once started, I’m able to write the entire screenplay in two or three days. You can compare this with a trance-like state that allows visions to emerge. Even to me, it is not entirely evident how this happens.
—Carlos Reygadas

IT TOOK ME several days to recover from watching Japón by Carlos Reygadas. A mesmerizing meditation upon the human condition—specifically the nature of death, both literally and existentially—, its essence seeped so very deeply into my soul, it left me feeling simultaneously devastated as well as utterly transformed. Inspired by the visionary films of Andrei Tarkovsky, the Mexican auteur’s outstanding debut feature is a testament to the fragility of life counterpointed by the power of love and devotional faith.