THEEVIL DOES NOT EXIST
Type: ecological-philosophical drama
Direction: Ryūsuke Hamaguchi. With Hitoshi Omika, Ryō Nishikawa, Ryūji Kosaka, Ayaka Shibutani, Hazuki Kikuchi, Hiroyuki Miura, Yoshinori Miyata
Oscar Award in 2022 for Best Foreign Language Film with Drive My Carthe Japanese director Ryūsuke Hamaguchi says the opposition of an entire village, located in a wooded and little-frequented area not far from Tokyo, to the construction of a trendy campsite (a “glamping”) planned by an aggressive business company.
We hear the reasons of the locals and the explanations of the builders, but the real objective of the film is to be able to convey to the spectator, in an almost physical way, the pleasure and enchantment of a panic relationship (relating to the god Pan, ed) with Nature.
Hitoshi Omika and Ryō Nishikawa in “There Is No Evil” (© Showtime Networks Inc).
Like what the widower Takumi feels and tries to teach his little daughter Hana. The long silent scenes, where the camera caresses the grass and trees or explore the sky, are as important as the discussions where the villagers explain the negative impact that camping would have on their ecosystem.
Indeed, perhaps even more, because it is precisely thanks to those sequences that Hamaguchi (also author of the screenplay with Eiko Ishibashi) knows how to convey the balance that must exist between man and naturewhose breakup will be at the origin of the surprising and mysterious final drama.
For those who want to reflect on the contrasts between Nature and Modernity.
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