JAPON (CRITERION)

In this preternaturally assured feature debut by Carlos Reygadas, a man (Alejandro Ferretis) travels from Mexico City to an isolated village to commit suicide; once there, however, he meets a pious elderly woman (Magdalena Flores) whose quiet humanity incites a reawakening of his desires. Recruiting a cast of nonactors and filming in sublime 16 mm CinemaScope, Reygadas explores the harsh beauty of the Mexican countryside with earthy tactility, conjuring a psychic landscape where religion mingles with sex, life coexists with death, and the animal and spiritual sides of human experience become indistinguishable. A work of soaring ambition and startling visual poetry, Japón is an existential journey through uncharted cinematic territory that established the singular voice of its director.

Special Features and Technical Specs:

• NEW 2K RESTORATION, supervised by director Carlos Reygadas, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New conversation between Reygadas and filmmaker Amat Escalante
• Video diary shot by actor Alejandro Ferretis during the film's production
• Maxhumain, a short film directed by Reygadas in 1999
• Deleted scene
• Trailer
• PLUS: A new essay by novelist Valeria Luiselli
• Optional English subtitles for the main feature