Maverick director Carlos Reygadas (Japón, Silent Light) has created one of the most challenging and indelible films of the year. Post Tenebras Lux (‘After Darkness, Light’) is a disorienting, kaleidoscopic and stunningly-filmed vision of a family torn between tenderness and violence that won the filmmaker Best Director at Cannes.
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Carlos Reygadas introduces the experience of watching Post Tenebras Lux: ‘The film may seem mysterious at first sight. But I really hope that by not giving you any simple answers, you eventually felt how much I respect you as a viewer, how I respect the movie in terms of art, and how much I respect myself as a director. The film is what it is. Talking about it afterward makes me feel dishonest. I demand a lot from the audience and I don’t have any limits, that’s true. However, I am a free man, and I may do what I really want. I am giving you the best of myself, and I strongly believe that all around me there are lots of people more sensitive and intelligent than I am. Every single person is different, is focused on other things, feels different emotions, and tries to find their own waythrough the movie, and is able to find their very own and unique interpretation of the story. One viewer could love the film; the other one, as sensible as anyone else, may hate it for a very good reason. Moreover, I am a viewer as well. I watch lots of movies, and I truly appreciate the directors that don’t try to lead me by the hand through their stories. I want to be considered one of them. ‘The whole idea of “light after darkness” seems appealing to me in terms of intimate experience, of being a human living in a Western world. In a sense we all live in the darkness of our daily frustrations. Yet, I hope the light would come after us to enlighten the world for our children.’ (Slant)
Recommended rating: Cert 18.
