Carlos Reygadas' Post Tenebras Lux, from 2012, is a bewildering art film that packs a punch as a pagan hymn to the beauty of nature. The film has no plot to speak of, but does loosely follow members of an elite Mexican family across time and, at least, two continents. Despite their relative affluence, most of the clan are unhappy. Listlessly, they pursue their appetites, be it at a Christmas feast or a sex club. A sequence at an AA meeting populated by rural laborers demonstrates that Reygadas does not believe modern malaises are limited to the upper crust. The film is one designed to be grokked, rather than give us catharsis or an epiphany. There is no tidy moral, but an overflow of life.
Reygadas and his cinematographer Alexis Zab utilized beveled lenses to give the film a refracted look. Images, particularly the outdoor sequences, consist of gorgeous shots of horses, dogs, children, and twilight skies that have been given an extra twinkle. This stresses the magical nature of life that jaded adults, like myself, often overlook while getting caught up in the daily grind. Shots are often at a dog's eye level. Thus, when the protagonist brutally punishes one of his dogs, we cannot but condemn his actions as evil.
That the protagonist seems to be a stand-in for Reygadas adds to the queasy complexity of the viewing experience. A visit to the families' abode by the devil, reminiscent of the zombie bunnies in David Lynch's Inland Empire, seems trite. However, those who seek adventurous cinema, like that of Mr. Lynch, will find many rewarding moments in these flickering images.
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