Evil Does Not Exist: Beautifully Made, but Frustratingly Unfocused (Blu-ray)

The Film:

Just three years ago, writer/director Ryusuke Hamaguchi gave us his remarkably popular dramatic epic "Drive My Car," which not only received massive critical acclaim, but also went on to earn him a pair of Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, while the film itself won the Oscar for Best International Film and received an additional nod for Best Picture. Now Hamaguchi is back with his highly-anticipated follow-up "Evil Does Not Exist," another quiet, meditative outing that had been making the festival rounds since last year before finally securing a limited release in the US earlier this year. Thanks to Janus Contemporaries, the film is now getting released on Blu-ray, finally giving fans of his work the chance to catch up with his latest offering and to see if it could possibly live up to his previous work that had earned him such incredible praise.

The film opens by introducing us to Takumi (Hitoshi Omika), an odd-job man, and his young daughter Hana (Ryo Nishikawa), who live in a small mountain village in the woods. Members of the community are summoned to a special meeting where two representatives of a talent agency, Takahashi (Ryuji Kosaka) and Mayuzumi (Ayaka Shibutani), explain how their company is going to build a "glamping" site (for glamorous camping) nearby, and that it will help increase tourism to their village.

The villagers immediately raise a number of concerns, such as the placement of the septic tank causing problems with their water supply and not having enough staff to keep watch on the area all the time, problems that these two don't really have any good answers for. The representatives try to talk about it with their boss, but are told to move forward anyway and to attempt to hire Takumi, who raised the concerns about the septic tank, as a caretaker for the grounds, leading them on a desperate bid to win him over.

As mentioned, "Evil Does Not Exist" is another quiet, meditative outing, one that takes a bit of time at the start to establish its characters in their small village. That is, it does eventually get around to that after a peculiar opening shot that has the camera staring up at the woods for the first few minutes of the film. This is followed by Takumi chopping wood for several minutes before moving on to him and a friend gathering water from a local stream for several more minutes. Next, we witness Takumi and his daughter strolling through the woods identifying different trees before moving on to a dinner gathering that introduces more of the villagers.

At this point, it would be quite understandable if the viewer was getting a little concerned that the film's actual plot hadn't gotten underway. Establishing the characters and setting is fine to a point, but eventually your audience is going to want something a little more substantial, so dwelling on those aspects for so long isn't doing it any favors. Luckily the plot finally kicks in at about the half hour mark, in what is actually a remarkably riveting scene. We watch as the representatives present the glamping project to the locals, who immediately bring up a number of good points that clearly hadn't been thought through very well. It's a fascinating example of how sometimes simplicity is best when presenting the film's core narrative material. No flare is needed, just strong performances and compelling development.

This is carried into a scene in which the representatives try to get the message through to their boss, who simply doesn't care due to the time limit of the subsidies involved. Once again, it's a rather striking scene of simplicity, but whereas they had been open to hearing the concerns brought up by the villagers, their boss rejects them with a mind entirely centered on getting the job done. At this point, it's great to see that the film finds its focus, which it had been having trouble getting to in those first 30 minutes, in effect, turning the film around and showing us that it has more on its mind than originally thought.

However, that's what makes the second half of the film a rather unfortunate disappointment. Following these powerful scenes, we are treated to an endlessly meandering conversation between Takahashi and Mayuzumi as they drive back to the village in which they discuss their careers, their lives, and dating apps. It adds nothing to the plot or the film in general, and merely leaves you waiting for it to get back on track. However, this is immediately followed by them watching Takumi chop wood for several minutes, with Takahashi even giving it a try.

At this point, it feels as though Hamaguchi is stalling once again, as he had done in the opening 30 minutes, and while he does try to get it back on track by having the two representatives try to recruit Takumi, it soon loses the focus once again as the last few minutes change the story into something else entirely, eventually concluding with a thoroughly random ending that you'd be forgiven for smirking at.

It's a shame because there is an interesting & compelling story buried in here about the community coming together to stop something that could do serious damage to their lives, but Hamaguchi has quite a bit of trouble keeping the focus on it, instead being content to wonder off into irrelevant areas that don't help develop it or engage the audience in any way. It's certainly a beautiful film to look at, with a multitude of shots being devoted to the landscape in and around the village, but for those looking for something more substantial, they'll be disappointed to find that Hamaguchi wasn't quite able to deliver this time.

Video/Audio:

"Evil Does Not Exist" comes to Blu-ray in a 1.66:1, 1080p High Definition transfer of excellent quality. The film looks gorgeous throughout, highlighting its remarkably elegant cinematography. Likewise, the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track is fantastic, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and music in outstanding quality. Overall, Janus Contemporaries has done a wonderful job in both areas for the film's debut home release.

Special Features:

Meet the Filmmakers (19 Minutes): An interview with writer/director Ryusuke Hamaguchi in which he discusses the film and his influences.

Conclusion:

Ryusuke Hamaguchi's "Evil Does Not Exist" is a beautifully made film, with a few scenes that hint at an an intriguing & compelling story within, but unfortunately he has quite a lot of trouble keeping the focus where it needs to be, instead choosing to wander off into other areas that don't help develop it or engage the audience, ultimately making for a visually-appealing, but very frustrating experience.

Score: 2.5/5

Available on Blu-ray starting tomorrow.

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