{"id":32195,"date":"2024-08-09T21:22:12","date_gmt":"2024-08-09T20:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/?p=32195"},"modified":"2024-08-30T17:20:56","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T16:20:56","slug":"post-tenebras-lux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/post-tenebras-lux\/","title":{"rendered":"Post Tenebras Lux"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Still from “Post Tenebras Lux”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/span>In “Post Tenebras Lux,” the main <\/span><\/span>challenge<\/span><\/span> is to get through an eight-minute opening sequence, where a <\/span><\/span>young <\/span><\/span>girl in rubber boots <\/span><\/span>roams<\/span><\/span> a marshy field <\/span><\/span>among<\/span><\/span> cows, dogs, and horses under an indigo<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>sunset sky. Then comes the titular<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>darkness, punctuated by lightning flashes illuminating the child’s face.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>Post-prologue, viewer<\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>are<\/span><\/span> immediately rewarded: in the <\/span><\/span>second<\/span><\/span>scene, <\/span><\/span>in<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>a<\/span><\/span> sleeping house<\/span><\/span>, <\/span><\/span>as a storm rages outside,<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>a neon demon<\/span><\/span>\u2014<\/span><\/span>complete with the iconographic horns and hooves<\/span><\/span>\u2014<\/span><\/span>creeps<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>through<\/span><\/span>, <\/span><\/span>carrying a valise<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>presumably filled with sinister tools.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Still from “Post Tenebras Lux”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Reygadas describes the film as semi-autobiographical, and indeed, <\/span><\/span>its<\/span><\/span> protagonists, Juan and Natalia, are nouveau riche who have savored European life before returning to their native Mexican expanses. They reside in a modern house amid pastoral <\/span><\/span>scenery<\/span><\/span> with their children Ruth and Eleazar and <\/span><\/span>their <\/span><\/span>dogs (roles filled by the director’s own family and pets). The film is composed of mar<\/span><\/span>ital <\/span><\/span>scenes<\/span><\/span>, <\/span><\/span>essentially a collection of ostensibly arbitrary experiences, lived<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>moments, revelations, and sexual experiments (mostly unsuccessful), united into a statement. <\/span><\/span>T<\/span><\/span>his mosaic<\/span><\/span>-like<\/span><\/span> structure and the ambiguous relationship<\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/span> between the <\/span><\/span>scenes<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>likely<\/span><\/span> puzzled the Cannes<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>audience. In one <\/span><\/span>episode<\/span><\/span>, Juan and Natalia search for the <\/span><\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/span>Duchamp room<\/span><\/span>\u201d <\/span><\/span>in a swinger-filled<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>bathhouse, where Natalia is taken <\/span><\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/span>into action<\/span><\/span>\u201d <\/span><\/span>by several drooling <\/span><\/span>philanderers<\/span><\/span> in front of her apathetic husband. The plot <\/span><\/span>then <\/span><\/span>resurfaces in quasi-reality: Juan, through the patronage of a worker nicknamed Seven, joins the local Alcoholics Anonymous club to confess his pornography addiction to <\/span><\/span>a group of <\/span><\/span>the <\/span><\/span>petty<\/span><\/span> Mexican proletariat. In the first quarter of the film, <\/span><\/span>there<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s <\/span><\/span>suddenly a flash-forward <\/span><\/span>to show<\/span><\/span> grown-up Ruth and Eleazar <\/span><\/span>at their<\/span><\/span> wealthy grandmother<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s house<\/span><\/span>, receiving envelopes of cash as Christmas gifts.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Still from “Post Tenebras Lux”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Despite their outward prosperity, Juan and Natalia<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s <\/span><\/span>relationship is fraught with tension: <\/span><\/span>t<\/span><\/span>hey exist in a metaphorical pit,<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>unable to escape without mutual assistance, yet too proud or ashamed to collaborate. Reygadas isn<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>t breaking new ground <\/span><\/span>by <\/span><\/span>notic<\/span><\/span>ing<\/span><\/span> that human loneliness is conditioned by an absurd existential law. The characters<\/span><\/span>\u2019 <\/span><\/span>primal <\/span><\/span>nature (is this what the infamous demon “worked on”?) is contrasted with another emotional epicenter <\/span><\/span>of the film<\/span><\/span>\u2014<\/span><\/span>nature<\/span><\/span> itself<\/span><\/span>. <\/span><\/span>This natural world<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>is <\/span><\/span>emphasized by <\/span><\/span>an<\/span><\/span> archaic 4:3 format, where the frame<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s edges, like a tear-filled eye, <\/span><\/span>are <\/span><\/span>constantly blur in a soft watercolor effect<\/span><\/span>\u2014<\/span><\/span>either a tribute to impressionism or a find by cinematographer Alexis Zabe. <\/span><\/span>Yet<\/span><\/span> nature offers no solace or resolution<\/span><\/span>\u2014<\/span><\/span>the film sways <\/span><\/span>between<\/span><\/span>state<\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/span>: childhood <\/span><\/span>and<\/span><\/span> adulthood, reverie <\/span><\/span>and<\/span><\/span>reality, purity <\/span><\/span>and<\/span><\/span> depravity.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Still from “Post Tenebras Lux”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Reygadas delves in<\/span><\/span>to<\/span><\/span> the archaeology of his characters’ psyches, inviting multiple interpretations while seeking understanding through intuition rather than rational analysis. <\/span><\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/span>It<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s a dream, only a dream, and it<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s fading now, fading away,<\/span><\/span>\u201d <\/span><\/span>Juan and Natalia imperfectly harmonize to Neil Young<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s lyrics <\/span><\/span>in one of the final scenes, before their bedroom is visited again by the demonic entity.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n