Post Tenebras LuxThe devil's business is to sneak into the hearts of men and pervert their souls, turning virtues into vice, and their joys into sorrow. Post Tenebras Lux--which translates as "light after darkness"--is an experimental drama about Juan (Adolfo Jimenez Castro), the patriarch of an affluent Mexican family who resides in the mountainous countryside, along with his wife, Natalia (Nathalia Acevedo), and his two sweet children, Eleazar (Eleazar Reygadas) and Rut (Ruth Reygadas). Despite his wealth and relative life of leisure, Juan is a man plagued by anger and lack of self-control--a weakness of character that threatens the spiritual and emotional fabric of his family.
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Post Tenebras Lux is dominated by lengthy shots of still images, from the misty countryside and the beach to people in various activities. This gives the film a deliberate, contemplative tone, inviting the audience to draw its own conclusions about the plot and its characters, and the broader themes explored in that interpretation. The cinematography of Post Tenebras Lux is nigh-voyeuristic, shot in a narrow 4:3 aspect ratio; many scenes have a filter creating an out-of-focus halo surrounding anything not directly positioned in front of the camera. This narrow focus through the eye of the proverbial needle intimates how easily people lose sight of the world around them--an interpretation that justifies Juan's tragic fate. Juan is presented as a loving father, yet he browbeats Natalia over trivial details like the color of the curtains for their house. His supercilious behavior with the locals who he hires to take care of his house shows that he is unaccustomed to doing manual labor himself, and yet he becomes aggressive when anything is out of his control. Juan is a man of chaotic contradictions--after playing with his son in bed, he walks out onto his porch and violently beats one of his dogs for not coming when called. Juan proclaims sorrow to Natalia after the local veterinarian realizes the cause of the dog's injuries, feebly (and ominously) offering that he only hurts the dog because she is his favorite. Juan confesses to one of his groundskeepers--known as "Seven" (Willebaldo Torres)--that he is addicted to internet pornography, after accompanying him to a support group for locals battling various addictions. Juan takes Natalia to an underground sex club--implied to be in France--where he encourages his wife to engage in group sex with strange men; back home, he tries to coerce her into sodomy when she mentions that she has an infection that would make intercourse impractical. Yet when Juan keeps the company of the villagers who live near his home--like during a celebration with fireworks and music--his depravity is not evident. Juan's curse is like that of the eponymous rake from "The Picture of Dorian Grey"; he masks the darkness of his soul, but it continues to corrupt him from within, building to an inevitable crisis.
In a moment steeped in irony, Juan quotes Tolstoy's "War and Peace" at an upscale Christmas party. He claims that the source of Man's suffering comes from an addiction to affluence and riches, and that people will only be free once they have freed themselves of these vices. This mirrors an earlier scene when Seven shares his criminal past with Juan, describing how his father was sexually abusive, and ascribes this as the reason that he became a thief and alcoholic. Juan asks Seven which step of the twelve-step program he is on; he awkwardly jokes that he's still on the first one. Seven proves to be just as compelled by vice as Juan, causing a schism between him and his family, and invariably leading him back into larceny and violence. There are two scenes which bookend Post Tenebras Lux; a glowing red entity that resembles a naked devil--complete with horns and a barbed tail--sneaks into a home while its residents are asleep, carrying a toolbox with him. A young boy watches him skulk into the bedroom of his parents, where he prepares to go about his nefarious work. This is a metaphor for how children rationalize the horrible behavior adults do, from abuse to depravity. Juan does not appear to have abused Rut or Eleazar, but how long will it be before this becomes another inevitability? The innocence of children becomes the only spiritual defense against the darkness that destroys men's souls, manifested through moments of guilelessness with Rut and Eleazar. The first scene in the film involves a yet-to-be-introduced Rut playing in a muddy field with cows, donkeys, and dogs. Her happiness turns to anxiety when the sun sets and a thunderstorm begins to roll in, leading her to call out to her mother and the rest of her family for safety. Post Tenebras Lux has a fractured narrative, sometimes jumping forward years without preamble, or depicting people across the globe without introduction. Consider when the children have grown into teenagers and visit the beach; they enjoy the benign and simple pleasures of staring out over the ocean, and watching the waves lap against the sand. A pair of scenes depicting two teams of English boys playing rugby adds to the implication that children possess an inherent defense against the evil's insinuating grasp--their interactions are without hatred or anger, despite the aggressiveness of the sport. Compare these scenes with those involving world-weary adults; a friendly game of chess sours into cynical banter bordering on the insulting. An obese landowner hires Seven to discretely chop down his sister's favorite tree just to spite her, and talks seriously and abrasively about them shooting one another. The film's title suggests that the next generation--children like Rut and Eleazar--will escape the darkness that ruined their precursors; they will not allow themselves to be tainted by the same cancerous influences, reclaiming the light of innocence that is so precious and so easily discarded.
Recommended for: Fans of an abstract morality tale that explores the duality of the soul through guardians that have been corrupted by vice and children whose inherent purity stands as the last defense against depravity. Post Tenebras Lux is frequently quiet--even placid--yet moments of graphic sexuality and violence emerge without warning, emphasizing the bestial degeneracy of Juan and those like him.
In a moment steeped in irony, Juan quotes Tolstoy's "War and Peace" at an upscale Christmas party. He claims that the source of Man's suffering comes from an addiction to affluence and riches, and that people will only be free once they have freed themselves of these vices. This mirrors an earlier scene when Seven shares his criminal past with Juan, describing how his father was sexually abusive, and ascribes this as the reason that he became a thief and alcoholic. Juan asks Seven which step of the twelve-step program he is on; he awkwardly jokes that he's still on the first one. Seven proves to be just as compelled by vice as Juan, causing a schism between him and his family, and invariably leading him back into larceny and violence. There are two scenes which bookend Post Tenebras Lux; a glowing red entity that resembles a naked devil--complete with horns and a barbed tail--sneaks into a home while its residents are asleep, carrying a toolbox with him. A young boy watches him skulk into the bedroom of his parents, where he prepares to go about his nefarious work. This is a metaphor for how children rationalize the horrible behavior adults do, from abuse to depravity. Juan does not appear to have abused Rut or Eleazar, but how long will it be before this becomes another inevitability? The innocence of children becomes the only spiritual defense against the darkness that destroys men's souls, manifested through moments of guilelessness with Rut and Eleazar. The first scene in the film involves a yet-to-be-introduced Rut playing in a muddy field with cows, donkeys, and dogs. Her happiness turns to anxiety when the sun sets and a thunderstorm begins to roll in, leading her to call out to her mother and the rest of her family for safety. Post Tenebras Lux has a fractured narrative, sometimes jumping forward years without preamble, or depicting people across the globe without introduction. Consider when the children have grown into teenagers and visit the beach; they enjoy the benign and simple pleasures of staring out over the ocean, and watching the waves lap against the sand. A pair of scenes depicting two teams of English boys playing rugby adds to the implication that children possess an inherent defense against the evil's insinuating grasp--their interactions are without hatred or anger, despite the aggressiveness of the sport. Compare these scenes with those involving world-weary adults; a friendly game of chess sours into cynical banter bordering on the insulting. An obese landowner hires Seven to discretely chop down his sister's favorite tree just to spite her, and talks seriously and abrasively about them shooting one another. The film's title suggests that the next generation--children like Rut and Eleazar--will escape the darkness that ruined their precursors; they will not allow themselves to be tainted by the same cancerous influences, reclaiming the light of innocence that is so precious and so easily discarded.
Recommended for: Fans of an abstract morality tale that explores the duality of the soul through guardians that have been corrupted by vice and children whose inherent purity stands as the last defense against depravity. Post Tenebras Lux is frequently quiet--even placid--yet moments of graphic sexuality and violence emerge without warning, emphasizing the bestial degeneracy of Juan and those like him.