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==Release==
==Release==
The film premiered in competition at the [[2010 Cannes Film Festival|Cannes Film Festival]] on 21 May 2010.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.festival-cannes.fr/assets/File/Web/HORAIRES%202010/Horaire%20Projections.pdf|title=The screenings guide|work=festival-cannes.com|publisher=[[Cannes Film Festival]]|accessdate=2010-05-20}}</ref> Theatrical distribution in Thailand was at first uncertain. "Every time I release a movie, I lose money because of the advertising and promotion, so I'm not sure if it's worth it, even though I would love to show it at home", Apichatpong said in an interview.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Landreth|first=Jonathan|date=2010-05-18|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film-festival/cannes/news/e3i6478fc41cf5464a58271fa09dff6357e|title=Q&A: Apichatpong Weerasethakul|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|accessdate=2010-05-20}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> On 25 June, however, Kick the Machine released it in a month-long run, limited to one theater in Bangkok. It passed uncut by the Thai censorship board, despite featuring scenes similar to those cut from the director's past two feature films.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Frater|first=Patrick|date=2010-06-23|url=http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/uncle-boonmee-set-for-uncut-release|title=Uncle Boonmee set for uncut release|work=Film Business Asia|accessdate=2010-07-06}}</ref> Distribution rights for the United States were acquired by [[Strand Releasing]] and it was released on 2 March 2011.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mitchell|first=Wendy|date=2010-07-06|url=http://www.screendaily.com/news/distribution/stand-strikes-us-deal-for-uncle-boonmee-with-match-factory/5015752.article?referrer=RSS|title=Strand strikes US deal for Uncle Boonmee with Match Factory|work=[[Screen International|Screen]]|accessdate=2010-07-06}}</ref><ref name=rt>{{cite web|title=Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010)|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/uncle_boonmee/|publisher=Rotten Tomatoes}}</ref> Cartoonist [[Chris Ware]] created the poster for the U.S. release.<ref name="cw-nwt">{{cite web|title=Ghost Stories|url=http://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/23/ghost-stories/|publisher=The New York Times|accessdate=26 May 2011|date=2011-05-23}}</ref><ref name="cw-ny">{{cite web|title=Vulture Premieres the Poster for Cannes Hit Uncle Boonmee, Designed by Chris Ware|url=http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/02/uncle_boonmee_poster.html|work=Vulture|publisher=[[New York (magazine)]]|accessdate=26 May 2011|date=2011-02-08}}</ref>
The film premiered in competition at the [[2010 Cannes Film Festival|Cannes Film Festival]] on 21 May 2010.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.festival-cannes.fr/assets/File/Web/HORAIRES%202010/Horaire%20Projections.pdf|title=The screenings guide|work=festival-cannes.com|publisher=[[Cannes Film Festival]]|accessdate=2010-05-20}}</ref> Theatrical distribution in Thailand was at first uncertain. "Every time I release a movie, I lose money because of the advertising and promotion, so I'm not sure if it's worth it, even though I would love to show it at home", Apichatpong said in an interview.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Landreth |first=Jonathan |date=2010-05-18 |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film-festival/cannes/news/e3i6478fc41cf5464a58271fa09dff6357e |title=Q&A: Apichatpong Weerasethakul |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |accessdate=2010-05-20 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/20100521093032/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com:80/hr/content_display/film-festival/cannes/news/e3i6478fc41cf5464a58271fa09dff6357e |archivedate=21 May 2010 }}</ref> On 25 June, however, Kick the Machine released it in a month-long run, limited to one theater in Bangkok. It passed uncut by the Thai censorship board, despite featuring scenes similar to those cut from the director's past two feature films.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Frater|first=Patrick|date=2010-06-23|url=http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/uncle-boonmee-set-for-uncut-release|title=Uncle Boonmee set for uncut release|work=Film Business Asia|accessdate=2010-07-06}}</ref> Distribution rights for the United States were acquired by [[Strand Releasing]] and it was released on 2 March 2011.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mitchell|first=Wendy|date=2010-07-06|url=http://www.screendaily.com/news/distribution/stand-strikes-us-deal-for-uncle-boonmee-with-match-factory/5015752.article?referrer=RSS|title=Strand strikes US deal for Uncle Boonmee with Match Factory|work=[[Screen International|Screen]]|accessdate=2010-07-06}}</ref><ref name=rt>{{cite web|title=Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010)|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/uncle_boonmee/|publisher=Rotten Tomatoes}}</ref> Cartoonist [[Chris Ware]] created the poster for the U.S. release.<ref name="cw-nwt">{{cite web|title=Ghost Stories|url=http://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/23/ghost-stories/|publisher=The New York Times|accessdate=26 May 2011|date=2011-05-23}}</ref><ref name="cw-ny">{{cite web|title=Vulture Premieres the Poster for Cannes Hit Uncle Boonmee, Designed by Chris Ware|url=http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/02/uncle_boonmee_poster.html|work=Vulture|publisher=[[New York (magazine)]]|accessdate=26 May 2011|date=2011-02-08}}</ref>


==Reception==
==Reception==

Revision as of 22:38, 30 January 2016

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
Poster by Chris Ware
Directed byApichatpong Weerasethakul
Written byApichatpong Weerasethakul
Produced bySimon Field
Keith Grifith
Charles de Meaux
Apichatpong Weerasethakul
StarringThanapat Saisaymar
Jenjira Pongpas
Sakda Kaewbuadee
CinematographySayombhu Mukdeeprom
Yukontorn Mingmongkon
Charin Pengpanich
Edited byLee Chatametikool
Production
company
Kick the Machine
Distributed byKick the Machine
Release dates
  • 21 May 2010 (2010-05-21) (Cannes)
  • 25 June 2010 (2010-06-25) (Thailand)
Running time
114 minutes
CountryThailand
LanguagesIsan
Thai
Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Viennale 2010)

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Thai: ลุงบุญมีระลึกชาติ; RTGS: Lung Bunmi Raluek Chat) is a 2010 art drama Thai film written, produced and directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. The film, which explores the theme of reincarnation, won the Palme d'Or at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first Thai film to do so.[1]

Plot

The film centers on the last days in the life of its title character. Together with his loved ones – including the spirit of his dead wife and his lost son who has returned in a non-human form – Boonmee explores his past lives as he contemplates the reasons for his illness.[2]

Cast

  • Thanapat Saisaymar as Uncle Boonmee
  • Jenjira Pongpas as Jen
  • Sakda Kaewbuadee as Thong
  • Natthakarn Aphaiwong as Huay, Boonmee's wife
  • Jeerasak Kulhong as Boonsong, Boonmee's son
  • Kanokporn Thongaram as Roong, Jen's friend
  • Samud Kugasang as Jai, Boonmee's chief worker
  • Wallapa Mongkolprasert as the princess
  • Sumit Suebsee as the soldier
  • Vien Pimdee as the farmer

Themes

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives is the final installment in a multi-platform art project called Primitive. The project deals with the Isan region in Thailand's northeast, and in particular the village of Nabua in Nakhon Phanom, near the border to Laos. Previous installments include a seven-part video installation and the two short films A Letter to Uncle Boonmee and Phantoms of Nabua, both of which premiered in 2009. The project deals with themes of memories, transformation and extinction, and touches on a violent 1965 crackdown on communist sympathisers in Nabua by the Thai army. Regarding the feature film's place within the overarching project, Apichatpong has said that it "echoes other works in the 'Primitive' installation, which is about this land in Isan with a brutal history. But I'm not making a political film - it's more like a personal diary."[3]

According to Apichatpong, the film is primarily about "objects and people that transform or hybridise". A central theme is the transformation and possible extinction of cinema itself. The film consists of six reels each shot in a different cinematic style. The styles include, by the words of the director, "old cinema with stiff acting and classical staging", "documentary style", "costume drama" and "my kind of film when you see long takes of animals and people driving". Apichatpong further explained in an interview with Bangkok Post: "When you make a film about recollection and death, you realise that cinema is also facing death. Uncle Boonmee is one of the last pictures shot on film - now everybody shoots digital. It's my own little lamentation".[4]

Production

Apichatpong Weerasethakul says that a man named Boonmee approached Phra Sripariyattiweti, the abbot of a Buddhist temple in his home town, claiming he could clearly remember his own previous lives while meditating. The abbot was so impressed with Boonmee's ability that he published a book called A Man Who Can Recall His Past Lives in 1983. By the time Apichatpong read the book, Boonmee had died.[2][3] The original idea was to adapt the book into a biographical film about Boonmee. However, that was soon abandoned to make room for a more personal film, while still using the book's structure and content as inspiration.[4] The stories and production designs were inspired by old television shows and Thai comic books, which often used simple plots and were filled with supernatural elements.[2]

The film was an international co-production between Apichatpong's company Kick the Machine, Britain's Illuminations Films, France's Anna Sanders Films, Germany's The Match Factory and Geissendörfer Film- und Fernsehproduktion and Spain's Eddie Saeta.[5] It received 3.5 million Baht in support from the Royal Thai Ministry of Culture.[6]

Filming took place between October 2009 and February 2010, as the weather conditions allowed, both in Bangkok and the northeast of Thailand, Isan.[5] The movie was shot with 16 mm film instead of digital video both for budgetary reasons and to give the film a look similar to that of classic Thai cinema.[6]

"I was old enough to catch the television shows that used to be shot on 16 mm film. They were done in studio with strong, direct lighting. The lines were whispered to the actors, who mechanically repeated them. The monsters were always in the dark to hide the cheaply made costumes. Their eyes were red lights so that the audience could spot them."

— Apichatpong Weerasethakul[2]

Release

The film premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival on 21 May 2010.[7] Theatrical distribution in Thailand was at first uncertain. "Every time I release a movie, I lose money because of the advertising and promotion, so I'm not sure if it's worth it, even though I would love to show it at home", Apichatpong said in an interview.[8] On 25 June, however, Kick the Machine released it in a month-long run, limited to one theater in Bangkok. It passed uncut by the Thai censorship board, despite featuring scenes similar to those cut from the director's past two feature films.[9] Distribution rights for the United States were acquired by Strand Releasing and it was released on 2 March 2011.[10][11] Cartoonist Chris Ware created the poster for the U.S. release.[12][13]

Reception

Sukhdev Sandhu of The Daily Telegraph gave the film a perfect score of five stars in an early festival review. Sandhu wrote: "It’s barely a film; more a floating world. To watch it is to feel many things – balmed, seduced, amused, mystified," and continued: "There are many elements of this film that remain elusive and secretive. But that’s a large part of its appeal: Weerasethakul, without ever trading in stock images of Oriental inscrutability, successfully conveys the subtle but important other-worldliness of this part of Thailand".[14] In Screen International, Mark Adams called the film "a beautifully assembled affair, with certain scenes staged with painterly composure, and also increasingly moving as the subtle story develops. Plus Apichatpong Weerasethakul is not afraid of adding in moments of surreal humour – often laugh-out-loud moments for that – which helps the pacing of the film."[15] Willis Wong of Intermedias Review acclaimed director's achievement: "'Uncle Boonmee' is a slow, meditative and often baffling journey visually gorgeous and worth taking."[16]

The film received a score of 2.4/4 at Screen International's annual Cannes Jury Grid, which polls international film critics from publications such as Sight & Sound, The Australian, Positif, L'Unita, Der Tagesspiegel among others.[17] It holds a 90% "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes out of 87 reviews. The critical consensus reads "Languorous and deeply enigmatic, Palme d'Or winner Uncle Boonmee represents an original take on the ghosts that haunt us." It was listed second on Film Comment magazine's Best Films of 2011 list.[18] In the 2012 Sight & Sound critics' poll, 8 critics voted for it as one of their 10 greatest films ever made; this ranked it at #202 in the finished list. Five directors also voted, making the film ranked at #132 in the directors' poll.[19]

Awards and nominations

The film won the Palme d'Or at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.[20] It became the first Asian film to win the award since 1997.[20] Apichatpong Weerasethakul became the first Thai director to receive the award.[21] The film was selected as the Thai entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards[22] but it didn't make the final shortlist.[23] The film won the award for Best Film at the 5th annual Asian Film Awards.[24]

See also

References

  1. ^ Miller, Lisa (27 August 2010). "Remembrances of Lives Past". The New York Times.
  2. ^ a b c d "English press kit Lung Boonmee raluek chat" (PDF). Illuminations films. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  3. ^ a b Kwai, Wise (20 April 2010). "The late, great Apichatpong". The Nation. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  4. ^ a b Rithdee, Kong (28 May 2010). "Of monkey ghosts and men". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 3 June 2010. [dead link]
  5. ^ a b Mayorga, Emilio (20 January 2010). "Eddie Saeta joins 'Uncle Boonmee'". Variety. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
  6. ^ a b Rithdee, Kong (7 May 2010). "Multiple avatars". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 7 May 2010. [dead link]
  7. ^ "The screenings guide" (PDF). festival-cannes.com. Cannes Film Festival. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  8. ^ Landreth, Jonathan (18 May 2010). "Q&A: Apichatpong Weerasethakul". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 21 May 2010. Retrieved 20 May 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ Frater, Patrick (23 June 2010). "Uncle Boonmee set for uncut release". Film Business Asia. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
  10. ^ Mitchell, Wendy (6 July 2010). "Strand strikes US deal for Uncle Boonmee with Match Factory". Screen. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
  11. ^ "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010)". Rotten Tomatoes.
  12. ^ "Ghost Stories". The New York Times. 23 May 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
  13. ^ "Vulture Premieres the Poster for Cannes Hit Uncle Boonmee, Designed by Chris Ware". Vulture. New York (magazine). 8 February 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
  14. ^ Sandhu, Sukhdev (21 May 2010). "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, review". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  15. ^ Adams, Mark (21 May 2010). "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives". Screen. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  16. ^ Wong, Willis (2 October 2010). "Ghost Country". Intermedias Review. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  17. ^ Cannes Jury Grid 2010. Screen International
  18. ^ http://www.filmcomment.com/article/film-comments-end-of-year-critics-poll-2011 Film Comment, January/February 2012
  19. ^ "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives". BFI. 17 November 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  20. ^ a b O'Neil, Tom (23 May 2010). "Quelle surprise! 'Uncle Boonmee' nabs Palme d'Or at Cannes". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  21. ^ Chang, Justin (23 May 2010). "'Uncle Boonmee' wins Palme d'Or". Variety. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  22. ^ "And the Hopefuls for Best Foreign Oscar Are ..." thewrap. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  23. ^ "9 Foreign Language Films Continue to Oscar Race". oscars.org. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
  24. ^ Cremin, Stephen (21 March 2011). "Boonmee claims AFA crown". Film Business Asia. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
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