Ryûsuke Hamaguchi shocked the cinema world with a new film of his appearing inside the Venice Film Festival lineup. We had no idea he was even working on a new project.
It turns out that “Evil Does Not Exist” was never supposed to be a feature film. Hamaguchi started working on it this past January, with the intention of it being a 30-minute film accompanied by a live score composed by Eiko Ishibashi (via MP93 @AW).
As it sometimes happens, the film ended up getting lengthier as the shoot went along and Hamaguchi decided to turn it into a feature film with dialogue.
That is why there are currently two versions of the film, “Evil Does Not Exist” and “Gift.” The latter, the originally-intended version without dialogue and live music from Ishibashi, which will have its world premiere at Belgium’s Film Fest Gent in October.
The decision to submit one of these films to Venice was pure happenstance. This is also why we will not be getting it released anytime this year, “Evil Does Not Exist” will more than likely be in theaters in 2024.
It’s also Hamaguchi’s follow-up to his 2021 one-two punch of “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy” and “Drive My Car.” The latter was nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, at the 94th Academy Awards. It also won Best International Feature.
This is a good time to mention that “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy” is, in my opinion, a much better film than “Drive My Car.” Absolutely seek it out. It’s wonderful.
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