tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149411832127844385.post2957005013019415259..comments2024-03-22T14:34:39.101-04:00Comments on MONDO 70: A Wild World of Cinema: UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES (2010)Samuel Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934870299522899944noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149411832127844385.post-85192348590664214382011-03-25T14:00:04.388-04:002011-03-25T14:00:04.388-04:00Yep, Samuel, Stanley Kauffmann is my favorite prof...Yep, Samuel, Stanley Kauffmann is my favorite professional critic, and I well remember he had mentioned that Weerasethakul likes to be referred to as "Joe." I respect Nathaniel Hood's position (heck I hated INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, a film that just about every person on Earth adored!) though of course I don't agree. I did not see the film at the New York Film Festival -I laud you for that great experience- but everything I read about the director's presentation was exceedingly favorable. It does usually go hand in hand that an unfavorable position will unduly influence the discussion session afterwards, though I can readily admit that the documentary NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT did not result in a particularly rewarded Q & A by celebrated documentarian Patricio Guzman last week at the IFC Film Center, for reasons connected with the general approach to the material.<br /><br />In any case, at the end of day, fair enough. I didn't feel like "Joe" was obscure for obscure's sake at all, and thought he broached some fascinating philosophical ideas that yielded some profound and arresting images.Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149411832127844385.post-73966312735951324302011-03-24T22:12:49.885-04:002011-03-24T22:12:49.885-04:00Nathanael: I can see how Boonmee could alienate a ...Nathanael: I can see how Boonmee could alienate a lot of viewers, and having the director try to explain it might only exacerbate the effect. Nevertheless, parts of it worked for me either visually or intellectually. Accessibility is relative, I guess.Samuel Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00934870299522899944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149411832127844385.post-70048675173489692452011-03-24T19:20:38.804-04:002011-03-24T19:20:38.804-04:00I HATED this film.
Never before have I felt such ...I HATED this film.<br /><br />Never before have I felt such contempt for an audience by a director. It made NO attempt to be accessible or comprehensible. I actually saw it at the New York Film Festival where the director gave a Q&A afterwards. All of his explanations for his film were ridiculous....Nathanael Hoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08959797971471060052noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149411832127844385.post-13363343390098699342011-03-24T18:32:39.988-04:002011-03-24T18:32:39.988-04:00Sam, for what it's worth David Denby just came...Sam, for what it's worth David Denby just came out against Boonme in <i>The New Yorker,</i> but his is a more thoroughly dismissive review than I think necessary. Weerasethakul (Stanley Kaufman reports that the director lets people just call him "Joe") is a legitimately ambitious but also self-indulgent filmmaker. I think he tries to say too much here without managing to hold it all together, but much of it is still worth saying. The funeral and aftermath reminded me of another film you recommended to me, Jessica Hausner's <i>Lourdes,</i> which I'd call the superior movie simply because it coheres better.Samuel Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00934870299522899944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149411832127844385.post-54321849538733217452011-03-24T17:38:06.739-04:002011-03-24T17:38:06.739-04:00"Something is probably being said here about ..."Something is probably being said here about our divided consciousness and the different planes of existence we inhabit simultaneously, but that's just a guess I'm making."<br /><br />Samuel, I commend you on your refusal to grant the seal of approval on certain aspects of the film that just didn't wash with you just because the film won the Palme d'Or and has received mostly spectacular reviews from the most discriminating of critics and bloggers. Only my WitD colleague Allan Fish seems to be on the same page as you, though his issues are more a seeming disdain for the kind of story the director chose to tell here than because of any inherent artistic failings. I absolutely do not agree with you that this film is less than the sum of it's parts, and I went just last week to see it a second time at the Film Forum to ponder further on its relative complexities. Like you I loved the surreal and erotic princess and the catfish sequence (Weerasethakul did not even try to connect this to the rest of the film, but we all know what he saying here and only pose to ask who Boonme is, the princess or the catfish?) and feel your pasted comment above was spot-on for that point. The reception for the film has imprssed far more reliable watchers than Tim Burton, and Weerasethakul is quitely simply one of the world's most brilliant directors in my view. This is bold, auspicious, imaginative, philosophical and stylish filmmaking that won't always (at least not immediately) hit the right notes for all, but elements of magic and sensuality overcome the daeth looms inescapable no matter who perceived direction the story goes for Boonme. Hence for me this is far more than an interesting film, but a stone-cold masterpiece. As I stated earlier this extraordinary reviews expands the literature on this film, and should be read by everyone, regardless of their summary reactions.Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.com