Cannes Director Spotlight: Carlos Reygadas

Carlos Reygadas
New Film: Post Tenebras Lux
Country: Mexico
Age: 40
Best Known for: 2007's Silent Light, a moving film about marital tension within a Mennonite community

Cannes History
Post Tenebras Lux is Reygadas' fourth directorial effort, and all four of his films have played on the Croisette. His debut feature, Japon, was a part of the International Critics' Week, while Battle in Heaven, Silent Light, and Post Tenebras Lux have all been (or, in the case of the latter, will be) in Competition.

His Resume
If for nothing else, Reygadas is known as a provocateur. Japon contained scenes of actual animal cruelty. Battle in Heaven is full of unsimulated sexual acts. And though Silent Light, a personal favorite of Martin Scorsese, is perhaps tamer, it's apparently no less avant-garde when it comes to style.

Reygadas On-Demand
Hulu Plus: N/A
iTunes: Silent Light
Netflix Instant: Battle in Heaven
Vudu: Silent Light

Post Tenebras Lux
"Juan and his young urban family live in the countryside of Mexico. There, they enjoy and suffer a world that understands life in a different way. Juan wonders if those worlds are complementary or, truly, they fight unconsciously to eliminate one another." —The Playlist

Still not quite sure what that official synopsis means, but I'm hoping it's a case of the film sort of defying a simple description a la Certified Copy, or something else of that nature (the still embedded below seems as cryptic as the description). As is his wont, Reygadas' cast is made up of unknowns, and his usual suspects on the editing and cinematography front—Alexis Zabe and Natalia Lopez, respectively—are standing with him once again.

Reygadas, it seems, is one of my bigger director oversights, as I had previously been unaware of his existence as a human being, and now feel bad for having not yet seen something as universally respected as Silent Light. As such, Post Tenebras Lux is a tough nut to crack. Could the material's challenging nature sweep the jury members off their feet? Or will it be divisive and go home empty handed?

Hard to say, but In Contention's Guy Lodge seems to have a great deal of confidence in its chances. That's good enough for me. I'll keep an eye out on Post Tenebras Lux, with the expectation that it'll either be a smashing success and win some kind of award or get booed out of France. Either way, it's one of the Competition's odder entries, and it's bound to get festival-goers talking.