Evil Does Not Exist

Nature has its own voice. You never know when it starts screaming.

Evil Does Not Exist proves that after the triumph of Drive My Car at the Oscars, and the enthusiastic response to Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy at Berlinale, the director still doesn’t rest on his laurels and is one of the most original artists in modern cinema. This fully voiced feature film with dialogue was born out of the silent film GIFT, a visual interpretation of the Japanese multi-instrumentalist Eiko Ishibashi’s music (also in the festival’s program). Hamaguchi’s new film, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice festival, is a winter ballad, a moving environmental manifesto, and a surprising thriller, all in one.

Takumi (Hitoshi Omika) lives in a forest outside of Tokyo and cares for his daughter Hana (Ryô Nishikawa). The everyday rhythm of the community is disturbed by the arrival of corporate representatives, who want to open an exclusive glamping site on a clearing visited by deer, so that city folks come there on elegant camping trips. The resistance of the local community is calm, yet resolute. As the story unfolds, more and more doubts arise.

Evil Does Not Exist is a feast for all Hamaguchi’s fans and a tale that reaches its purpose while walking on trails left in the snow: carefully, slowly, as an experienced hunter. In Evil Does Not Exist animals from Bambi meet Axiliad, while the narrative turns try to keep up with the hypnotic, magnetic and disturbing score by Eiko Ishibashi.

Sebastian Smoliński

The screening will be followed by a meeting with Eiko Ishibashi, the composer of the film’s score.

Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (b. 1978) is a Japanese director and screenwriter who has been making films since 2003. He first gained international attention with his 2015 film Happy Hour and had a major breakthrough with the release of two films in 2021, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy and Drive My Car. The latter film won the Oscar for Best International Film and was nominated for three others.