Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
Suffering from acute kidney failure, Boonmee (Thanapat Saisaymar) has chosen to spend his final days surrounded by his loved ones in the countryside where he is visited by his sister-in-law Jen (Jenjira Pongpas) and his nephew Tong (Sakda Kaewbuadee). Surprisingly, the ghost of his deceased wife appears to him, and his long-lost son returns as half-human, half-ape. Dreamlike, the film moves unhurriedly through Boonmee’s memories and figures from his past and present. The jungle and the cave where Boonmee was born (as were, perhaps, his previous incarnations) turn into mythical spaces where the worlds of the living and the dead, the present and the past, the human and the divine, intersect.
Thai film-maker Apichatpong Weerasethakul is one of the most notable auteurs living today. Inspired by Phra Sripariyattiweti’s book A Man Who Can Recall Past Lives, the film earned Weerasethakul the Palm d’Or at Cannes for directing.
Tomasz Kolankiewicz
This screening will be presented together with The Others by Alejandro Amenábar.
- Original title — Loong Boonmee raleuk chat
- Director — Apichatpong Weerasethakul
- Writers — Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Phra Sripariyattiweti (novel)
- Cinematography — Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Yukontorn Mingmongkon
- Genre — drama, fantasy, comedy
- Production — France, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, UK, Thailand
- Year of production — 2010