Evil Does Not Exist [2023 NEOPA Fictive]

EVIL DOES NOT EXIST
Directed by Ryu Hamaguchi
Certificate: 12a
☆☆☆☆

THIS calmly constructed story doesn’t have an easy good / bad axis to swing on – but it easily could have done, and it is a sign of the rigour of director Ryu Hamaguchi that the obvious does not come to pass.

Takumi (Hitoshi Omika) has a lifestyle Henry David Thoreau would laud. He lives in a forest outside Tokyo with his daughter, Hana (Ryo Nishikawa), and earns bread via a series of outdoorsy odd jobs – hauling firewood, fetching spring water for a café whose owner swears the quality makes his noodles just so, fixing up building jobs and minor maintenance.

This is a beautiful place, the raw wind and fresh snow on the ground suggesting unforgiving elements – but celebrating the human ability to carve out cosy spaces no matter what the habitat offers up.

Its unspoiled outlook creates a paradox. A city slicker firm want to exploit this natural resource by setting up a glamping site for execs to shake off street grime.

But would this development ruin the very thing it is meant to be celebrating? And do those who live in rural settings, and have a close relationship to the earth, have any right to ration access? The plans show a septic tank will wreck the spring, and the glampers couldn’t care less.

In one scene reminiscent of the classic Ken Loach trick of asking actors to ad hoc a discussion on a topic, we meet the two functionaries there to push the project through.

What is unexpected is how Hamaguchi creates three-dimensional characters who realise how they are earning a living is distasteful: it is a clever twist, as is the grey-ish attitude of the villagers. Some would welcome the guests and business. Others point out that they too once moved there, and nothing is kept in aspic.

The well-trodden story of greedy capitalists taking on the little people – think Batteries Not Included – makes for an easy yarn. We know who the exploiters are. But Hamaguchi not only has created a challenging parable about development, he has shot it in a way that doesn’t match your average narrative. He has joined an intriguing story to lingering shots of silent forests, wide angle images of the deadpan lead doing menial tasks, and heavy silences. If you are partial to an action movie, give this one a miss.