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Alejandro Ferretis Elizondo, Magdalena Flores, Carlos Reygadas Barquín, Martin Serrano, Rolando Hernández ... see more see more... , Yolanda Villa , Claudia Rodríguez , Bernabe Perez , Fernando Benítez

A man on the brink of suicide regains the will to live under decidedly unusual circumstances in this drama from Mexico. A quietly despondent man (Alejandro Ferretis) leaves behind the city for a journ... read more read more...ey into a quiet village in the valley, telling anyone who cares to know that once he's settled in, he intends to kill himself. The man takes a room with Ascen (Magdalena Flores), and elderly woman who lost her husband some years ago. Keeping to himself, the man paints, thinks, and prepares himself for death, while Ascen slowly becomes aware of the depth of his depression. As Ascen's nephew attempts to rob her of her share of the family estate, the man feels a desire to live waking inside him again -- as well as the desire for a woman. Improbably, the man turns to Ascen for physical affection, and sensing his need for comfort, she complies, though the seduction lacks a great deal in the way of romance. The first feature film from writer and director Carlos Reygadas, Japon received an enthusiastic response when it was screened as part of the Directors' Fortnight series at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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72% liked it

1,851 ratings

Critics

80% liked it

25 critics

R, 2 hr. 6 min.

Directed by: Carlos Reygadas Barquín, Carlos Reygadas

Release Date: March 19, 2003

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DVD Release Date: October 12, 2004

Stats: 114 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (114)

  • SirPant
    May 1, 2012
    SirPant
    Japon's visual style is stunning and apt for the mood of the story. The story is strong and well conceived but as a tribute to Tarkovsky, it doesn't quite work. Imagine if Harold and Maude wasn't a comedy, imagine how grim that sounds and times by a hundred. Ok, so 'that scene' a... read moreside, there is a lot to relish here, the near suicide scene and the last 10 minutes of the film are absolutely breathtaking and redeem it somewhat, but the reference to it being a film (the scene with the builders/demolishers) was a step in the wrong direction as far as I'm concerned and after watching an interview with Magdalena Flores, I'm starting to wonder if she was actually tricked into the role which doesn't sit well with me either. Still, like Lars Von Trier once said, "a film should be like a stone in your shoe" - and this is a particularly sharp one. I'm being as generous as I feel I can be.
  • jimbotender
    March 2, 2010
    jimbotender
    Nothingness is the path to victory and in any constant public reactions,this would be the doomsday of most motion pictures.I will admit that Reygadas uses no script whatsoever,but why should i erase his ability to project a serene environment in a hostile manner?
  • jjb3332003
    May 28, 2011
    jjb3332003
    The only thing this movie does well is showing animals being treated like shit. What a piece of garbage...
  • RicC
    September 13, 2010
    RicC
    Señor Reygadas, your name might be cool to me, and you may have made some esoteric avant garde work in the future, but Japan has the stench of "Tarkovsky fanboy" and you've wasted my time with your amateurism and questionable sex fetishes. Next you'll be filming lesbian interraci... read moreal midgets, I bet.
  • GringoTex
    August 14, 2009
    GringoTex
    I rushed for this one as soon as Battle in Heaven went to the top of my provisional list. There are many typical over-eager first-time director moves, but overall Reygadas nails it. I've traipsed off by myself to some rural pueblito to get drunk and be self important on more than... read more one occasion, and he definitely nails it. There are of course the Tarkovsky influenced camera moves (completely abandoned in Battle in Heaven), but Reygadas films a reality outside of himself while Tarkovsky films self-interiors. The 15 minute disintegration into documentary near the end of the film is extraordinary and took steel balls from a first-time director. The dude literally interrupts his own narrative climax to a show a bunch of drunk mexican extras bitching about their maltreatment in the making of the film. I've never seen anything like it. I just hope Reygadas doesn't abandon Mexico like most of his other New Mexican Cinema comprades have.

View All Japón Reviews

Critic Reviews

Ty Burr
May 9, 2003
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

Unfolding at an elliptical pace that feels like a revelation, or tedium, or both, Japon recalls the glory days of 1970s art-house filmmaking. Full Review

Manohla Dargis
April 24, 2003
Manohla Dargis, Los Angeles Times

Unlike a lot of young filmmakers, the 31-year-old Reygadas takes his ideas about the world and our place in it as seriously as his filmmaking ambitions. Full Review

Patrick Z. McGavin
April 17, 2003
Patrick Z. McGavin, Chicago Tribune

It is the work of a remarkable new talent. Full Review

Peter Rainer
March 23, 2003
Peter Rainer, New York Magazine

Reygadas has an impressive eye for otherworldly landscapes and an impressive ear, too. Full Review

A.O. Scott
March 19, 2003
A.O. Scott, New York Times

Reygadas has talent to match his ambitions; or, rather, gifts that undercut them sufficiently to give his film a prickly, haunting poignancy. Full Review

V.A. Musetto
March 19, 2003
V.A. Musetto, New York Post

This debut feature of Carlos Reygadas is a startling achievement. Full Review

J. Hoberman
March 18, 2003
J. Hoberman, Village Voice

A notably confident and achieved debut, amazingly shot in 16mm Cinemascope. Full Review

Richard James Havis
November 13, 2002
Richard James Havis, Hollywood Reporter

This excellent debut by Mexican director Carlos Reygadas exhibits a maturity rarely seen in a first film.

Christopher Null
July 2, 2006
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com

obese in length and overflowing in pretension like so many prototypical art films Full Review

Nick Schager
April 19, 2006
Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness

Nothing shy of enthralling. Full Review

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