Japan

An astonishing debut feature by Mexican director Carlos Reygadas. Japan luxuriates in the sensual landscape of rural Mexico while at the same time delivering a narrative of stirring philosophical ambition. Showing the stylistic influences of Andrei Tarkovsky and Abbas Kiarostami, the story follows a troubled man who leaves Mexico City for the savageness of the vast Sierra Tarahumara canyon, where he's confronted by the surreality of everyday life. As the Village Voice notes enthusiastically, it's "funny, mournful, weird--new Mexican cinema's wiggiest manifestation to date." (122 mins.)