Mundane History

The Opening Film of the Bkk World Film Festival was anything but mundane . . .again, as subtle as her contemporaries and just as still but with moments of "shock" in this case, personal histories or paralysation, far far from ordinary.  It evoked feelings that were buried deep inside me and certain scenes brought them forward and it was like an eruption of emotion, I was completely overwhelmed by these feelings . . . the bathroom scene where I could hardly look for I felt so bad, the constellation scene which was magnificent for its randomness and joy and the last explosion, so surreal and powerful, yet very very real and close to us a the same time. Any chronological order or system was completely and utterly dispensed with, us being taken along on a ride where time, history, past and present are completely irrelevant, the only thing evident was that sadness and pain are synonymous with unequivocal joy.  Anocha Suwichakonpong is one to watch.

Mundane History will screen once more this Thursday at 21.45 at the Bangkok World Film Festival at Paragon.

Letters to Uncle Boonmee

A surreal dialogue -a  personal letter to a hero, Uncle Boonmee, describing Nabua as it is now. . . slow moving, utterly hypnotic, familiar yet distant references . . . reminding us of where we come from and what happened in the past.  A subtle exploration of the idea of memory, the past and the now.  Apichatpong is a master of this art - story-telling . . . I would like to see this short film in the context of his entire installation . . . Primitive very soon.

This film was the prelude to Lheureux's I Forgot the Title and they added to each other - so different yet so similar in the way that it awakens memory, nostalgia and something in our sub-conscience.

The films will be screened once more at 11 am Sunday 15th November at the Bangkok World Film Festival at Paragon.  

I Forgot the Title

A complex, subtle simulacra and homage to Italian cinema and the tradition of cinema.  An impossible meeting of Ingrid Bergman and Marcello Mastroianni . . . referencing Rosellini's Stromboli and Antonini's L'Aventura.  Utterly sumblime with incredible cinematography, I felt hypnotised by the music and the moving images in front of me - perfectly paced.  Christelle explained later that the first time the film was screened at the Beauborg there was a live pianist and in fact the film was a mute film and the sound was another layer, created by the live performance.  Very rich, layered, images that seep through slowly and remain in your mind together with the steady melody of the piano.