"“Although thought-provoking, the film is equally as exasperating for the viewer...”"
Mexican director Carlos Reygadas is famed for his unique, somewhat abstract filmmaking method, with provocative, avant-garde pieces of cinema making up his back catalogue – and his latest picture Post Tenebras Lux (Latin for “light after darkness”), is certainly no different. However, and despite earning Reygadas the prestigious Best Director award at Cannes Film Festival last year, the feature proposes a host of questions, yet unfortunately leaves them mostly unanswered.
Presented as a semi-autobiographical piece for the director, we open in a muddy field, where a young girl (Reygadas’ daughter) is jubilantly running free, in her element as she chases and plays with the cows and the dogs. However as the sun goes down, her exultation turns to anxiety, as she calls out for her mother, evidently put out by the changing colour of the sky and premonitory atmosphere ahead of the forthcoming storm. This lays the foundations for the rest of the movie, as we delve into the youngsters family life, as she lives with her elder brother and parents Juan (Adolfo Jiménez Castro) and Natalia (Nathalia Acevedo), who, in reflection of the opening scene, are on the verge of a thunderous awakening.
Post Tenebras Lux is a film you want to like and strive to comprehend, yet instead the directors intentions are somewhat opaque and contrived, and sadly any such admiration for Reygadas’ creative vision becomes secondary to quite simply not understanding what it is he is trying to say. The film has a cold, impersonal feeling to it, despite being loosely based on the directors own life. You don’t truly feel close to any character in particular nor care for their current predicament. The only characters you find endearing are the two children, yet their screen time is perhaps too modest to care quite enough.
Where Post Tenebras Lux does work is within the perfect balance between gritty naturalism, and immoderate surrealism – as we switch from tediously realistic scenes where the family are having breakfast with one another, to scenes where the devil himself is walking around their apartment at night. Reygadas cleverly (and somewhat literally in this instance) blurs the edges of reality, as the film takes place within a unique framing where the picture is presented very centrally on screen, with a blurry outer layer, that if the characters infringe, they become out of focus. This technique is effective as it shows how close and indefinable both reality and fantasy are.
Post Tenebras Lux is a symbolic production, yet simply feels to empty in its conviction, and although thought-provoking, the film is equally as exasperating for the viewer. It’s simply not enjoyable to indulge in, and although a quite remarkable, innovative piece of filmmaking, it just isn’t one that resonates greatly with myself, sadly.