I just watched Mexican director Carlos Reygadas' debut film called Japon. Japon means Japan, but nowhere in the film is there any reference to this place. Why? "I find film titles tend to be too descriptive" is his only explanation. The premise is simple: an unnamed man goes to a desolate canyon to kill himself (for reasons unexplained), and along the way rediscovers life. The pace is deliberately slow while in certain scenes, music is brought to the foreground to depict the lead character's state of mind while everything else sinks to the background. I especially like these lazy shots cos most of the time this is how I view the world too.

My favourite scene is a travelling panning shot at the end. A single camera moves slowly down the railway tracks, making slow reeling 360 degree turns and picking up signs of an accident's aftermath. Like a victim who stepped out of a vehicle in a crash, dazed and unfocused, weaving round till reality sinks in. And all this is set to match perfectly with Arvo Part's slow haunting Cantus in memory of Benjamin Britten. Heartbreaking.