Japón
Japón • 2h 14m
Directed by Carlos Reygadas • 2002 • Mexico
Starring Alejandro Ferretis, Magdalena Flores
In this preternaturally assured feature debut by Carlos Reygadas, a man (Alejandro Ferretis) travels from Mexico City to an isolated village to commit suicide; once there, however, he meets a pious elderly woman (Magdalena Flores) whose quiet humanity incites a reawakening of his desires. Recruiting a cast of nonactors and filming in sublime 16 mm CinemaScope, Reygadas explores the harsh beauty of the Mexican countryside with earthy tactility, conjuring a psychic landscape where religion mingles with sex, life coexists with death, and the animal and spiritual sides of human experience become indistinguishable. A work of soaring ambition and startling visual poetry, JAPÓN is an existential journey through uncharted cinematic territory that established the singular voice of its director.
Up Next in Japón
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A Conversation with Carlos Reygadas
This conversation between filmmakers Carlos Reygadas and Amat Escalante was recorded for the Criterion Collection in November 2017. They discuss JAPÓN's origins, inspirations, and production
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JAPÓN Deleted Scene
When JAPÓN premiered at the Rotterdam Film Festival in 2002, it featured a different ending, showing the crash that concludes the film, not just its aftermath. The scene is presented here as it appeared in that version.
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Production Diary
Actor Alejandro Ferretis (“the man”) documented the shooting of JAPÓN with a Hi8 camera and edited his memories into the film presented here. The material is the best available in terms of picture and sound quality.
