Evil does not exist | The poetry of contemplation

Takumi and Hana, his 8-year-old daughter, live in a village near Tokyo, in harmony with nature. The project to build a luxury campsite in the neighboring forest threatens to endanger the ecological and social balance of the village.

Japanese filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi won the Oscar for best international film in 2022 thanks to the splendid Drive My Car. We recognize the signature of the brilliant filmmaker of Tale of chance and other fantasies from the magnificent first scene of his new film, Evil does not existwhich was presented in official competition at the most recent Venice Film Festival.

We contemplate the treetops, in a low-angle tracking shot, to the sound of the very pretty music of composer Eiko Ishibashi. Then we discover the character of Takumi (Hitoshi Omika), who logs wood for a long time in the forest. Hamaguchi is a filmmaker who likes to take his time. Also, his new film, elegant, contemplative, vaporous, is not cluttered with a multitude of twists and turns.

Evil does not exist is the opposite of a Hollywood action film. It tells a slice of the life of Takumi, forgetful father of an 8-year-old girl, who lives in the countryside, in tune with nature.

His peace of mind is disrupted, like that of his fellow citizens, by a Tokyo company which intends to install a glamping (luxury campsite) in “his” forest.

An information meeting on the project failed to calm the discontent of citizens, who feared in particular the contamination of spring water coming from the mountain. The company insists, tries to win Takumi over to the project by offering him a job, but tragedy awaits…

Inspired first by the music of Eiko Ishibashi for the atmosphere of his film, then by a news item for his scenario, Ryusuke Hamaguchi offers a new poetic and sensitive film on incommunicability and the importance of dialogue.

In the wake of Drive My Carwithout being as accomplished, Evil does not exist addresses – often in a car – several similar themes, with as much melancholy and dramatic sense. What drives man to be a wolf to man? Ryusuke Hamaguchi seems to ask in this pregnant and delicate work, the conclusion of which remains open to all interpretations.

Indoors

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Drama

Aku Wa Sonzai Shinai (V.F.: Evil does not exist)

Ryusuke Hamaguchi

With Hitoshi Omika, Ryo Nishikawa, Ryuji Kosaka

1:46 a.m.

7.5/10