The wave of Best Of 2010s lists prompted me to note down quite a few recommendations. Both Lewis Rice O’Donnell and Axel Carrington put this title on their lists and that’s two people whose tastes in cinema I trust. Directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010) is a slow, strange and spiritual experience. Focusing on the title character, Uncle Boonmee (Thanapat Saisaymar) who is slowly dying of kidney problems, and lives and works on a farm in the countryside (near the borders of Laos and Cambodia). As a few relatives journey out there to spend time with him, the observational style, at times almost documentary like, shifts with the matter-of-fact appearance of Boonmee’s dead wife as a ghost – which prompts deadpan though loving reactions from the gathered family. The bush and the forests are alive with ghosts, people who have changed form, haunting dark shapes with glowing red eyes (one of whom is Boonmee’s adult son). Changing filmic registers at times – a dream of the future is related in a La Jetee style photo montage, tasting honey filmed in a master shot becomes a sublime moment of appreciating life, the trickle of urine in a cave is the ultimate metaphor for death, and so on. It was a meditative, humourous, surprising and ultimately thoughtful film – that references Thai cultural beliefs and historical contexts that I wasn’t really familiar with. Uncle Boonmee is streaming on Stan and I’d pass on the recommendation to you.
VHS Tracking 