Japanese film director Ryūsuke Hamaguchi is probably well-known among filmmakers, as he has released two films in recent years that are worth seeing in cinemas: “The Wheel of Fortune” and “Drive My Car”, the latter of which even the most rarely awarded film received high marks in the FILMSTARTS review. It is logical that his latest work is eagerly awaited.
Now the German trailer for the nature conservation drama “Evil does not exist“, which you can watch exclusively on FILMSTARTS. And herein lies a small, almost meditative taste of Ryūsuke Hamaguchi’s latest work, in which he tackles the problems of a sleepy village near Tokyo.
However, the carefree life of the residents, who live in harmony with nature and away from the noise of the city, is threatened when plans arise to build a glamping site here. The plans endanger not only the local water supply, but also the ecological balance of the plateau and the way of life of the villagers. But how should you defend yourself against it?
‘Evil Does Not Exist’ will hit German cinemas on April 18, 2024.
‘Evil Does Not Exist’ follows the image of the music
We already had the chance to see ‘Evil Does Not Exist’ at the Venice Film Festival, where it celebrated its world premiere as part of the official competition in 2023. Even though author Janick Nolting thinks the drama doesn’t replace Ryūsuke Hamaguchi’s previous works can keep up – to be fair it must be emphasized again that they set the bar quite high – the environmental thriller is definitely worth a cinema visit. . The rating also speaks for itself: “Evil Does Not Exist” received a very good 3.5 out of 5 possible stars in the FILMSTARTS review.
What is particularly striking is the close connection between image and score. ‘Evil Does Not Exist’ was born from a collaboration between Hamaguchi and the composer Eiko Ishibashi – who was also responsible for the background music for ‘Drive My Car’. And in this case it is not the image that determines the music, but Ishibashi’s score was accompanied by appropriate recordings by the virtuoso director for a live performance by the artist. The result is the 80-minute film ‘Gift’, which contains no dialogue at all. Some of the images used in ‘Gift’ are also used in ‘Evil Does Not Exist’, although the plot and imagery are even more strongly formulated here.