This is Day 2 of the NYFF but Day 1 for me. Apichatpong Weerasethakul's exquisite Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, winner of the Palme d'Or this year at Cannes, is the hands-down winner of my own Palme d'NYFF although I've only seen 5 of my 20 scheduled films thus far. I can't find words adequate to describe the experience of being immersed in Joe's world of wonder, where uncanny ghosts and reincarnations are part of the natural order of life in this remote region of northeastern Thailand (and a bit of modern urban life in the final section for good measure). The sound design, mixing a myriad of animal, bird and insect sounds with an eerie ambient drone familiar from Syndromes and a Century, is even richer than in that previous masterpiece. As in Tropical Malady, the contrast of extreme darkness and radiant light is wondrous (for instance, no one films a canopied bed more beautifully than Apichatpong). Rather than the bifurcated structure of his previous three features, in Uncle Boonmee Apichatpong applies six different visual strategies to the roughly six acts of the film. The most stunning is a playful evocation of a Thai royal costume drama involving a princess and a catfish; this section temporarily abandons the family drama of the rest of the film while maintaining the spirit of mysticism and transcendence evident throughout. Holding it all together is a deeply moving love story between Uncle Boonmee, dying of kidney failure, and his wife Huay who died 19 years earlier but has returned as a ghost to share his last moments and lead him to the next world. They are joined by other family members including Boonsong, a son who has returned after a long disappearance in the form of a monkey ghost. The embrace of Boonmee and Huay, pictured above, takes a triangular form matched by the inverted triangle of the bed canopy above them; this harmonious composition adds immeasurably to the poignance of this scene. One other detail which I found extremely powerful is the moment in the cave shortly before Boonmee's death when the tube attached to his kidney is opened to release a flow of urine onto the ground, as if draining his last lifeblood. Then there's a very erotic scene in which Tong, Boonmee's nephew (Apichatpong regular Sakda Kaewbuadee), takes off his orange Buddhist monk's robes and takes a shower. And once again Joe uses a catchy pop tune at the end simply because he likes it, and why not celebrate the joy of continuing life in just this way? I can't wait to see this film again and to see where my favorite contemporary film director goes in his next work.
Xavier Beauvois's Of Gods and Men was an excellent fictionalized recreation of the massacre of a community of monks in Algeria in 1996, aided by great performances from Lambert Wilson and Michael Lonsdale. Finally Michael Epstein's John Lennon documentary LENNONYC, although fairly conventional in approach, benefited from a great subject (Lennon's post-Beatles years in New York with Yoko Ono) and access to some terrific audio and video of recording sessions, radio shows and concert appearances. A special bonus was the post-screening appearance in the guest box of Yoko Ono, waving a peace sign to the cheering audience.
BONUS UPDATE: Here is the video of that "catchy pop tune" mentioned above, titled Acrophobia:
First off, let's talk about disclaimer. The dialog is primarily based on a dialect spoken by northeastern Thais. I may not understand some words and sentences and the version I watched didn't have a subtitle. However, I'm certain I got at least 70% of the whole dialog.
To me, as a Thai and Buddhist, every aspect Joe wants to present to viewers is not unusual. We do believe in reincarnation, good/bad deeds (what goes around, comes around), spirits. Doing good deeds such as making a food donation to monks, making money donation to the temple to spend on maintaining and renovating the temple, we hope, done when we pray at the time or right after the donation, that the merit could be benefited by those whom we killed or caused trouble in our past lives and by our relatives/friends who have passed away to help lift up their spirits' wellbeing.
In terms of quality of movie production, it didn't impress me much - quite poor, to be exact. Lighting is OK and I understand that, in many scenes i.e., the dining area, in the jungle, etc., it's the way it has to be. However, the composition is not great - half of the body of a character is displayed the scene. Dialog is rather natural and there's some humor. And I'm not certain what he means at the end when Tong and PaJane see themselves and a girl watching TV when they are going out to dinner. What did you gather from that?
As response to your comments...
"The most stunning is a playful evocation of a Thai royal costume drama involving a princess and a catfish" If you like this, there are tons more of Thai movies that feature our traditional beautiful costume.
"The embrace of Boonmee and Huay, pictured above, takes a triangular form matched by the inverted triangle of the bed canopy above them" You're very attentive. I overlooked the canopy, but I liked the embrace and the feelings they feel for each other when reminiscing the good old days in school when they first met.
"One other detail which I found extremely powerful is the moment in the cave shortly before Boonmee's death when the tube attached to his kidney is opened to release a flow of urine onto the ground, as if draining his last lifeblood" Yep, that's probably what Joe means.
"Then there's a very erotic scene in which Tong, Boonmee's nephew (Apichatpong regular Sakda Kaewbuadee), takes off his orange Buddhist monk's robes and takes a shower." No, it's not erotic at all. He just wants to shower, not horny. He's shirtless, though, but that's it.
First off, let's talk about disclaimer. The dialog is primarily based on a dialect spoken by northeastern Thais. I may not understand some words and sentences and the version I watched didn't have a subtitle. However, I'm certain I got at least 70% of the whole dialog.
ReplyDeleteTo me, as a Thai and Buddhist, every aspect Joe wants to present to viewers is not unusual. We do believe in reincarnation, good/bad deeds (what goes around, comes around), spirits. Doing good deeds such as making a food donation to monks, making money donation to the temple to spend on maintaining and renovating the temple, we hope, done when we pray at the time or right after the donation, that the merit could be benefited by those whom we killed or caused trouble in our past lives and by our relatives/friends who have passed away to help lift up their spirits' wellbeing.
In terms of quality of movie production, it didn't impress me much - quite poor, to be exact. Lighting is OK and I understand that, in many scenes i.e., the dining area, in the jungle, etc., it's the way it has to be. However, the composition is not great - half of the body of a character is displayed the scene. Dialog is rather natural and there's some humor. And I'm not certain what he means at the end when Tong and PaJane see themselves and a girl watching TV when they are going out to dinner. What did you gather from that?
As response to your comments...
"The most stunning is a playful evocation of a Thai royal costume drama involving a princess and a catfish"
If you like this, there are tons more of Thai movies that feature our traditional beautiful costume.
"The embrace of Boonmee and Huay, pictured above, takes a triangular form matched by the inverted triangle of the bed canopy above them"
You're very attentive. I overlooked the canopy, but I liked the embrace and the feelings they feel for each other when reminiscing the good old days in school when they first met.
"One other detail which I found extremely powerful is the moment in the cave shortly before Boonmee's death when the tube attached to his kidney is opened to release a flow of urine onto the ground, as if draining his last lifeblood"
Yep, that's probably what Joe means.
"Then there's a very erotic scene in which Tong, Boonmee's nephew (Apichatpong regular Sakda Kaewbuadee), takes off his orange Buddhist monk's robes and takes a shower."
No, it's not erotic at all. He just wants to shower, not horny. He's shirtless, though, but that's it.