Post Tenebras Lux

All the reviewers that superficially reacted to this film as just another self-indulgent art house ego trip made me laugh. I despise and ridicule art house pretension as much as anyone. But that's not what this film is. I'm not going to bother adding my insights and interpretations to the heap, you can do that on your own. And that's the point, if you can have a mind to make your own connections and formulate your own ideas, you should have no problems with PTL. Rich photography with shots that linger long enough to actually absorb them. A refreshing lack of the usual gimmicks: moving close-ups, romantic schmaltz and tearful, blubbering melodrama. The story is self-contained and original; the characters genuine and authentic; the style minimalist yet mesmerizing. Attributes sorely lacking in Hollywood and contemporary cinema in general. And Natalia's rendition of 'it's a dream' near the end was moving and impactful. Unlike anything that whining, glass shattering ol' hack Neil Young ever did. Not going to say it's perfect, but we need more like this.

An urban family, having moved to the countryside of Mexico, experiences raw drama and ambiguous fantasy in this cinematically fresh and rewarding film by Reygadas. The cinematography is ethereal and at times haunting when combined with such unsettling imagery. That's not to say the films imagery is horrifying in itself. The imagery of Post Tenebras Lux is unsettling in that it's picturesque and lush while also being new and confounding. This is partially due to it's hypnotic, almost tunnel vision take on the 4:3 ratio. This way of presenting the story only adds to it's mysterious nature. The narrative in itself is overtly expressionist as it's partial auto-biographical and moves with fluidity removed from reasoning. It's a film that's entrancing and bewildering at the same time - an atmosphere that just seems to work. It certainly worked to make one of the most original films of the year.

Post Tenebras Lux (2012) is a Mexican film written and directed by Carlos Reygadas. It stars Adolfo Jiménez Castro as Juan, a sophisticated and wealthy man who lives with his wife Natalia (Nathalia Acevedo) and children is a rural area of Mexico.

The movie contains bizarre elements. Many bizarre elements.

Bizarre elements are not necessarily out of place in a movie, but none of these elements made sense to me. I couldn't see how they fit into any cohesive directorial vision. For example, every so often the movie cuts to a scene of English schoolboys playing rugby. This must be highly symbolic. My question is, Symbolic of what?

At one point Juan watches while Natalia has sex with a stranger in a steam bath. Ms. Acevedo is very beautiful. (In fact, an older woman who is facilitating the event keeps telling her how beautiful she is.) So, the scene has its merits in the visual sense. However, in terms of plot, the scene makes no sense, especially because at that point everyone is speaking French. (There is one really positive aspect to this part of the movie. It allows the reviewer to point out that this was a truly steamy sex scene.)

Director Reygadas won the Best Director Award at Cannes for this movie. The jury must still be laughing.

After the dark, light.

This is the nearest translation of this highly tentative piece of cinema whose story involves Mexican urban life, a couple in a whorehouse, a British rugby match with a guest appearance of devil himself.

At the epicentre a man and his family. On the surface he has it all; a nice house, a beautiful wife and two healthy adorable kids. Beneath that, not all that shines is gold as he struggles with addiction and needs pornography to inspire spousal intimacy.

Unfortunately and despite the high dose of creative filming the above is the only cohesive bit in this film. The added layers that aspire to connect to the title by juxtaposition of moments of light and darkness drove the film onto a one way street with lights out.

A very mixed experience

I stopped watching this film less than 10 minutes in after the scene of an idiot beating mercilessly a young dog, not necessary, gratuitous, does nothing to validate whatever else is good, if anything, about this film or all the positive reviews it has garnered. This just shows the insensitivity of this director and introduces an irredeemable flaw to his work. Also, other hugely annoying things within these first ten minutes were the stupid portrayal of a very young girl left seemingly alone in a field with a pack of large dogs, including what looked like one of the most idiotic dogs alive and which any vaguely intelligent country would ban (the UK has, the US tolerates and encourages them, but then again the US voted for an empty-headed moron for its president), ie a pitbull plus German Shepherds, which any sensitive person would be concerned over for the child's safety. And to let this pack of dogs harass cows and horses or mules is again a demonstration, albeit a film, of stupidity. Also hugely annoying was the antiquated format of the film, and the ridiculous distortion of the edges of the film's frame as though it's trying to emulate that of a smartphone video. I've deleted this film from my collection and will approach Reygadas's other films I have with scepticism.