
After the extraordinary international success of the Oscar-winning Drive My Car, writer-director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi turned away from the noise and quietly made this small-scale independent film, a work of simplicity and grace about a rural community and the developers who want to built a “glamping” retreat in the woods. The protagonist, Takumi, is a taciturn woodsman whose natural authority the developers seek to co-opt… but things don’t quite work out that way.
Hamaguchi invests this all-too familiar ecological scenario not with drama, but with a rapt attention to Takumi’s way of life: how he chops wood, forages for mushrooms, or takes the measure of an icy stream. That’s not to suggest that nothing happens — there is conflict; change; tragedy — but rather than declare its intentions the film seeks to embody the patient virtues of living in harmony with nature, invites us to absorb them, and reflect.
Meditative and moving.
Jessica Kiang, Variety
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Hitoshi Omika, Ryo Nishikawa, Ryuji Kosaka, Ayaka Shibutani, Hazuki Kikuchi
Japan
2023
In Japanese with English subtitles
Grand Jury Prize, Venice 2023
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Producer
Satoshi Takata
Screenwriter
Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Cinematography
Yoshio Kitagawa
Editor
Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Azusa Yamazaki
Production Design
Masato Nunobe
Original Music
Eiko Ishibashi
Also Playing
Souleymane's Story
Exhausted by the grueling grind of the Parisian gig economy and hopping between homeless shelters, Guinean immigrant Souleymane races against time to prepare for his asylum interview. An angry, tender film which is as gripping as any thriller.
The Last Class
Economist and former US Secretary of Labor Robert Reich embarks on what will be his last year teaching at Berkeley. What can he impart to the latest generation to inspire and empower them for the grievous challenges ahead?