Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Uncle Boonmee who can recall his past lives (Long Boonmee Raluek Chat) by Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Uncle Boonmee who can recall his past lives (Long Boonmee Raluek Chat) by Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Participating in the Festival de Cannes for the 5th time, Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul presents Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall his Past Lives (Long Boonmee Raluek Chat) in Competition. It is his third film presented in the Official Selection after Blissfully Yours in Un Certain regard in 2002 and Tropical Malady in 2004 – Prix du Jury. He was in the Atelier of the Cinéfondation in 2006 and a member of the Feature Film Jury in 2008.
“I believe in the transmigration of souls between men, plants, animals, and ghosts. The story of Uncle Boonmee shows the relations between man and animal and at the same time erases the borderline that separates them,” the director says about his film.
The story is about Uncle Boonmee, who is suffering from acute kidney failure and decides to end his days with his family in the country. Strangely, the ghosts of his deceased wife and his lost son appear and take him under their wing. Meditating on the reasons for his illness, Boonmee sets out to cross the jungle with his family as far as a cave at the top of a hill… his birthplace in his first life.
Apichatpong Weerasethakul draws a parallel between directing and the theme of reincarnation in his film: “In a way, directing films is similar to creating artificial past lives. What interests me is exploring the entrails of this time machine we call cinema.”
The director was inspired by a little book written by Uncle Boonmee that recounts how he could see his former lives drifting past him like a film when he was in deep meditation. In adapting the book, the director wanted to concentrate not on this character but rather on his personal interpretation of reincarnation.
Long Boonmee Raluek Chat is the 6th feature film by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. He has made numerous short films as well as video and artistic installations and exhibitions around the world.
His film will be screened at the Grand Théâtre Lumière at 12:00 and 22:30.
E.B.
