Background: This movie won the 2010 Palme D'or at the Cannes Film Festival. That is to say that it won one of the most, possible the single most, prestigious awards in world of film. That said, I'm absolutely not surprised to see this qualifies for The Depths. First of all, this movie was made in Thailand and, unfortunate as it is, people don't like reading subtitles. That counts double for a language as foreign as Thai. A lot of Americans can fumble through the major European languages that they learned in high school, some people will even seek out foreign movies that they know a bit of the language of, either to bone up a bit or just try to see how much they know. I know I watched Downfall (which was fantastic) and Good Bye, Lenin! (which isn't as good as everyone says) because I took a lot of German classes.
That said, even if this movie were made in English, this would not be a popular movie. Even in Thailand, this movie only barely saw a release. It had a limited run for a month in Bangkok thanks to Kick The Machine. It's a deliberately paced and deeply contemplative movie. To say that it's an art movie almost sells it short, though. There is a plot that, though strange, is actually easy to follow, something not seen too often in art films.
This film was directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, who also helpfully goes by Joe. I'll call him Joe because holy shit that is some name he's got. In addition to the Palme D'or, his previous films have also won the Cannes Jury Prize (Tropical Malady) and the top prize in the Un Certain Regard section of Cannes (Blissfully Yours) so it's clear that this is a man who knows his film.
Plot: This film has far less plot than tone. The pacing of the film is intentionally slow, forcing the viewer to soak in the movie and all the moods of all the characters. Essentially, this movie is about a man, the eponymous Boonmee, who is dying. By his side is his sister in law, his nephew, and his helper/nurse. They all try to console Boonmee by telling him that he'll get better. One evening, during a dinner with his family, the ghost of his wife appears. Though the family is confused, none of them appear to be scared or even taken aback by the appearance of the ghost.
Later, another ghost appears in another form to Boonmee and his family. This time it's that of his long lost son. Now though, he's been transformed into a hairy monkey hybrid with glowing eyes. This sounds ridiculous, sure, but hear me out. He says that he became that way because he mated with other monkey-people out in the hills in the wilderness. Okay, now you can think it's ridiculous.
Along the way, Boonmee talks to the ghost of his wife and the new form of his son. In this way, the movie isn't about what most people think of when they picture "past lives." It's more about the life he led with his wife before she died and his son before he ran off to live in the hills. These scenes are moving emotionally, but given their supernatural elements, also put the viewer in this strange world where people don't notice the crazy things around them.
Why Was If Forgotten? There are a lot of people that will be thrown off by the subtitles, there are a lot of people that will mill the themes entirely, there are a lot of people that will find the supernatural parts silly and not take the movie seriously, but none of those reasons really get down to the core of why most people will never give this movie a chance. It's the pacing. Take the opening scene, for example. The film starts with an ox wandering through the forrest. There is no context surrounding it, nor is it ever referenced again in the movie. But that doesn't mean Joe left it in there by accident. It's clear that every moment of every shot is how Joe wanted it.
It's also clear though, that he's working on a completely different level than most directors. Take the scene where the ghost of Boonmee's wife appears. The family is eating dinner and a mysterious figure appears so slowly, viewers might not even realize it at first.
This movie isn't complicated the way American movies are. Over here, movies are complicated mostly in their plots and that's how filmmakers will fit themes in. Film Noir in the '40s especially was great for this. Lately, the films of Christopher Nolan and Spike Jonze have picked up in similar ways. Uncle Boonmee though wears its themes on its sleeve, and that can be off putting to some people. It's sort of the inverse of American cinema, putting a lot of contemplation around very little plot.
What Went Right? Judging by the Ebert scale of whether or not a movie achieves what it sets out to say? I'd say everything.
Verdict: Sure it's weird, see the damn movie.
Score: 100%
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