UNCLE BOONMEE

“Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives” (Thailand, 2010) by Apichatpong Weerasethakul tells of a man’s final days. Boonmee, a farmer in north-eastern Thailand, is suffering from kidney failure. His sister-in-law Jen and his nephew Tong come to look after him. Over dinner on the veranda, the ghost of his deceased wife Huay joins them at the table; shortly afterwards his son Boonsong, who disappeared years ago, comes up the stairs as a monkey ghost with glowing red eyes. No one is startled. Boonmee wonders whether his illness is punishment for having killed communists as a soldier, and in the end lets himself be led into a cave where, he believes, his first life began.

The film dispenses with explanations and strings together memories, legends and everyday scenes like chapters of a dream, including the story of a princess and a catfish. In Cannes it won the Palme d’Or in 2010, the first Thai film to do so. It was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin in 2018, in the Hommage Apichatpong Weerasethakul section.

Shown at the 2018 edition of Around the World in 14 Films.

All films 2018 · Film Archive