Japón (2002)

*SPOILERS*

A man travels to a remote mountain village in order to kill himself. He first gives himself some time in the village before the intended final act. He stays at the house of an elderly woman.

The kind of film which tells more about the artist than about his subject (whatever the latter may be). People have wondered about the title, and it appears there is an explanation by the filmmaker himself, that it refers to the rising sun and its metaphorical meaning (as in "the sun also rises", title of a Hemingway novel). This makes sense, as this is, apart from its aesthetics, the conventional story of a suicidal man who has a change of heart after getting in contact with a more elemental reality. It's open to discussion whether this change really happens, and whether it happens before or after the final tragedy. Anyway, there is another dimension to the experience of the film which is dictated by its whimsical aesthetics, and here I would like to point out the possible relevance of the fact that the main character is a painter and is shown to possess a book about Picasso. There are several elements which point to cubism in this film's aesthetics. To consider the parallel between Picasso's use of deformation in depicting women and the unusual eroticism depicted in the movie might be indicted by some as prejudicial, but I personally do not see how it can be avoided. Also, if cubism is thought of as a series of recombinations, one can think of this as a recombination of several structural patterns found in other movies (Ikiru (To Live), Narayama Bushiko (Ballad of Narayama)) so as to render them nearly unrecognizable. But none of this leads to a satisfactory work of art. The film is poorly conceived and aesthetically self-indulgent.

Rating: 29