Can a film about a glamping site reveal the true nature of human conflict?
In short: Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s award-winning drama follows a quiet mountain village resisting a reckless real estate development. As corporate representatives clash with local residents over environmental risks, the story evolves into an enigmatic, haunting meditation on nature, civilization, and the blurred lines between intent and consequence in a rapidly changing world.
Set in the serene village of Mizubiki, the film centers on Takumi, a widower who lives in harmony with the forest. This peace is shattered when two representatives from a talent agency arrive to propose a glamping site. The residents immediately identify a critical flaw: the site’s septic system is insufficient, threatening to contaminate the local groundwater. While the developers initially seem open to feedback, their corporate superiors demand they ignore the environmental concerns and instead attempt to manipulate Takumi into managing the site.
Director Ryusuke Hamaguchi developed the project from a short film collaboration with composer Eiko Ishibashi. Influenced by the aesthetic and musical sensibilities of Jean-Luc Godard, Hamaguchi crafted a narrative that resists simple moral binaries. The film’s visual style, captured by cinematographer Yoshio Kitagawa using older Nikon lenses, emphasizes natural light and a raw, textured atmosphere that mirrors the vulnerability of the mountain environment. The resulting work is an eco-parable that refuses to provide easy explanations for the tensions it depicts.
The film’s climax, involving a missing child and a wounded deer, leaves audiences with more questions than answers. Critics have noted its opaque and enigmatic nature, with some finding it a compelling, measured exploration of the friction between modern development and the natural world. Despite its deliberate pacing and unconventional structure, the film earned significant acclaim, including the Grand Jury Prize at the 80th Venice International Film Festival and Best Film at the 2023 BFI London Film Festival, cementing its status as a challenging piece of contemporary cinema.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Evil Does Not Exist
- Also: Wikidata — Evil Does Not Exist · CC0
- Also: Wikidata — Evil Does Not Exist · CC0
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