แสงศตวรรษ (Syndromes and a Century) (2006)

Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Writer:    Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Cast:       Nantarat Sawaddikul, Jaruchai Iamaram, Sophon Pukanok
Language: Thai

Story about director Apichatpong Weerasethakul's parents who were both doctors, and director's memories about growing up in the hospital environment. I didn't know anything about the film going into it and this semi-autobiographical aspect was lost on me. I had seen 'Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives' from this director and saw this film as part of catching up with other films in his repertoire. 

The film shows two doctors both of whom are serving in an army hospital 40 years apart. The dialog and events in first part of the film are repeated again 40 years later in contemporary settings but with slightly different outcomes. Concept of reincarnation is again a theme in this film but I don't care much for it. The film is technically sound and the interaction between the characters are interesting enough to make it a good watch. There isn't much of a narrative or any sort of continuity to follow and I didn't get much meaning out of it. You do have the change in human interactions with modernity as people become more and more impersonal. There is a scene towards the end where people are engaging in a public aerobics exercise and that scene is very funny. The first half of the film doesn't have any background music while there is some in the second half. 

To sum up, it is a good enough watch mainly due to the random dialog and its technical aspects but I didn't really understand the film. The sets are exquisite and I might have got more out of the film if I was in a different mood without any distractions but as it stands, it just went over my head. Maybe there is nothing to actually get and that's the point. Open to stand corrected on re-watch but I don't think I will ever get round to  it. Uncle Boonmee was fantastic in an Ozu meets David Lynch kind of way.

Rating: 3/5

                                                                         

ลุงบุญมีระลึกชาติ (Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives) (2010)

Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Writers:  Phra Sripariyattiweti, Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Cast:       Thanapat Saisaymar, Jenjira Pongpas, Sakda Kaewbuadee
Language: Thai

On his deathbed, Uncle Boonmee recalls his many past lives.

When you are watching a film from a place like Thailand you don't expected to be treated with an extremely surreal kind of work. That said, Nicolas Windning Refn's 'Only God Forgives' was a surreal film set in Thailand but that is essentially a Western film. This one solidly exist in the Lynchian Universe but with an Eastern twist dealing with concepts like reincarnation and Karma. Another difference is that characters in it are very down to Earth kind whereas Lynch gives them a very cinematic flourish and stylization. Film very much look like featuring Ozu characters directed by David Lynch. 

Uncle Boonmee is suffering from kidney issues as he lives as a farmer in north east part of Thailand which borders Laos. He blames himself for his suffering and attributes it to Karma due to his past as an army officer who hunted communists and for the bugs he killed in his farm. 'An Act of Killing' was another film which tackled the issue of persecution of Chinese/Communists in Indonesia. I didn't know that it happened also in Thailand, but I guess it is not that surprising since those were the cold war days during which USA supported many un-democratic governments to do the same resulting in the latter using it to crush any opposition. Even though title of the film states that he is is recalling past lives, it is more a case of ghosts of his dead family members visiting him and him reminiscing about things he did in the past. Then again there is one sequence of a princess from distant past getting fucked by a catfish which must be from one of his earlier incarnations. I suppose what the director is trying to do is provide a connection to Thailand's history and the present through the film. The last sequence of the film is set in the urban part of Thailand where an amateur monk is caught between his earlier life and newly found monk life. I don't presume I understand exactly what the director is trying to convey in its entirety but when you watch these kind of films-it is almost always a case of enjoying the unique atmosphere and gleam whatever meaning you can. I like these kind of films where you watch it through the halfway mark in a sleepy fashion and in the latter part you don't want it to end since you have kind of begun to get the point.

The film won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes and was the first Asian film to do so since 1997 (Abbas Kiarostami's 'Taste of Cherry') and the first Thai film to do so in the festival's history. It is definitely something that one need to rewatch and I will definitely be checking out other works from the director. It is a very pleasant take on death and the director saw it as a metaphor for the death of use of films for film-making. 

Rating: 4/5