Film Forum

Oscar®-winning auteur Hamaguchi (DRIVE MY CAR) sets his newest feature in an idyllic forest community outside Tokyo, where corporate invaders have bought choice land for a glamping site. Taciturn widower Takumi gathers wild wasabi and stream water for a local udon restaurant, splits wood with Zen precision, and occasionally forgets to fetch his 8 year-old daughter from school — while shots of deer hunters echo ominously through nearby fields. He and two company reps become comically unlikely bedfellows, and together they ultimately confront the mysterious, unsettling forces of both nature and human nature.  A mesmerizing immersion in Hamaguchi’s enigmatic artistry, with long tracking shots fixed skyward and a lush, hypnotic score as variable and complex as the characters themselves.  

2023     106 MIN.     JAPAN     SIDESHOW / JANUS   IN JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Trailer

Reviews

“A work of undeniable power.”  
– David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter

“Spectacular… provocatively considers the kind of responsibility we bear toward our families, our friends, and even strangers.”
– Alissa Wilkinson, Vox

“A gorgeous eco-fable that ends with a mythical mic drop. Japanese superstar-in-the-making Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s latest film is a touching ecological parable full of little feints and narrative red herrings…its hymn to community and the environment [is] quietly spellbinding and a bit reminiscent of Akira Kurosawa’s own moving eco fable, DERSU UZALA.”
– Phil de Semlyen, Time Out

“Feels like an ambitious step forward for Hamaguchi. All his work mixes poetry and realism and this somehow increases both. Rather than crumbling under the pressure of international success, Hamaguchi seems to have committed even deeper to his strongest impulses. We are so lucky to share our planet-in-crisis with this singular artist.”
– Drew Burnett Gregory, Autostraddle

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