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Evil Does Not Exist film image

Evil Does Not Exist

悪は存在しない / Aku Wa Sonzai Shinai

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After the extraordinary international success of the Oscar-winning Drive My Car, writer-director Ryusuke 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.

 

Grand Jury Prize, Venice 2023

 

Community Partner

Director
Cast

Hitoshi Omika, Ryo Nishikawa, Ryuji Kosaka, Ayaka Shibutani, Hazuki Kikuchi

Credits
Country of Origin

Japan

Year

2023

Series

Showcase

Language

In Japanese with English subtitles

18+
105 min
Drama

Book Tickets

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Credits

Producer

Satoshi Takata

Screenwriter

Ryusuke Hamaguchi

Cinematography

Yoshio Kitagawa

Editor

Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Azusa Yamazaki

Production Design

Masato Nunobe

Original Music

Eiko Ishibashi

Director

Ryûsuke Hamaguchi headshot

Ryûsuke Hamaguchi

Ryusuke Hamaguchi was born in Japan on December 16th, 1978. In 2008, Passion, his master degree graduate work from Tokyo University of Arts, was selected to the San Sebastian International Film Festival and Tokyo Filmex. In 2015, his film Happy Hour premiered at the 68th Locarno International Film Festival and won several awards. In 2021, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the 71st Berlinale. At the 74th edition of Cannes, Drive My Car won the Screenplay Prize and 3 independent prizes, including FIPRESCI. The following year it received 4 Academy Award nominations at the 94th Academy Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay. It won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.

Filmography: Passion (2008); Happy Hour (2015); Asako I&II (2018); Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (2021); Drive My Car (2021)

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