This film worked its magic in all respects right from the outset with starting with the richly imaginative, often subtle colour palette. This created a world which was both familiar and yet wildly exotic. There was an amazing fecundity of invention in all respects. The mixing of the ‘big idea’ of Mahuto’s personal emotional journey along with personal emotional identification was masterfully done – and the world of the dead (drawing on folklore traditions?) fitted in seamlessly with the modern and yet also old and unchanging world, in which M found himself.
The pacing of the drama was impeccable; each section/development was of exactly the right length – emotionally/visually/dramatically – and so involvement was consistently maintained. The plot was richly varied, increasing in complexity as the drama unfolded and it would deserve a second viewing.
A wonderful achievement.