Thai Film Selected For Main Competition At Cannes 2010

[sabaijai]

Cannes 2010: Many stars, but only one legend

Peter Bradshaw rounds up the pick of the crop at Cannes

Peter Bradshaw

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 15 April 2010 23.07 BST

This year's Cannes will begin and end in ways to make us meditate on the themes of property and theft. Ridley Scott's new Robin Hood film will launch the festival with what we all hope will be a beefy and resounding twang; the closing film will be Oliver Stone's Wall Street 2.

Both are out of competition, emphasising the Cannes habit of showcasing Hollywood movies in this relaxingly non-judgmental way. Glitzy American pictures will bring in the star-names and red-carpet glamour, but my first recognition has to go Stephen Frears's Tamara Drewe based on a graphic novel by Posy Simmonds.

Mike Leigh is a great British auteur and former Palme D'Or winner, back with a new ensemble drama, Another Year, starring Lesley Manville and Jim Broadbent. Leigh's relationship with Cannes has been chequered. The festival famously turned down his 2005 film Vera Drake – Leigh took it to Venice where he won the Golden Lion and thumbed his nose at the French.

There is a strong Asian and Russian presence with films from Im Sang-soo, Lee Chang-dong and Nikita Mikhalkov – the latter returns with Burnt By The Sun 2, a follow-up to his most popular film.

The French presence looks interestingly low-key. Veteran film-maker Bertrand Tavernier presents his period costume drama The Princess of Montpensier, and the actor and recent Bond villain Mathieu Amalric makes his directorial debut (in the main competition, no less) with Tournée, about American burlesque girls on tour in France.

Abbas Kiarostami is the Iranian director with impregnable status and esteem and respect will be paid to his new film Certified Copy starring Juliette Binoche, his first made outside Iran.

Perhaps my favourite director in this year's lineup is the visionary Thai artist and film-maker Apichatpong "Joe" Weerasethakul who returns with his intriguing sounding Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritureturns with another drama of chance encounters and fate: Biutiful, starring Javier Bardem.

There is no doubt who is the biggest name. Fifty years after his first movie (Breathless, in 1960), the great man is back to put in a distinctively grizzled and inscrutable appearance. Jean-Luc Godard comes to Cannes in the Un Certain Regard sidebar, with a contribution to the portmanteau film Socialism. It will be a hot ticket. And the legendary Portuguese director, Manoel De Oliveira, at 101 years old, has made a new film, The Strange Case of Angelica.

A list with big names and well-established egos: as ever, the fascination is in seeing who will triumph and which upstaged by the always unguessable tide of younger talent.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/apr/15...ival-2010/print

[sabaijai]

2010 Cannes Film Festival: Asian Films Come on Strong

Wall Street Journal

MAY 6, 2010, 2:00 PM ET

There’s a strong Asian presence at this year’s Cannes Film Festival in France, which kicks off on May 12. Of the 37 films competing in the two major sections of this month's Cannes Film Festival, the art-house Oscars, 10 have Asian pedigrees. Half are in the Competition section, and so in the running for the Palme d'Or, the festival's highest prize; the others are in the section called Un Certain Regard, offering films from further outside the mainstream.

Thailand: 'Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives'

Nearly a decade ago, Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul's first feature film had its premiere at the Vancouver Film Festival. Shot in 16-millimeter black-and-white, "Mysterious Objects at Noon," ostensibly about a boy in a wheelchair and his devoted tutor, captivated critics with its melding of surrealist storytelling and the rhythms of everyday life in rural Thailand. Thai cinephiles' response was almost messianic.

"Here's someone who seems to have come suddenly out of nowhere, and finally, he's the filmmaker we've been waiting for," says May Adadol Ingawanij, a lecturer on Thai film at the University of Westminster in London.

Since then, Mr. Apichatpong has become one of the most lauded directors in Asia. His second feature, "Blissfully Yours," won the top prize in the Cannes Film Festival's Un Certain Regard section -- devoted to the work of young, innovative filmmakers -- in 2002. Two years later, his "Sud Pralad" ("Tropical Malady") earned the Jury Prize, generally considered second runner-up, in the Competition section, the festival's top category for more mainstream films. His "Syndromes and a Century" was on the 2006 Top 10 list of the venerable U.K. film magazine Sight & Sound, based on a survey of its contributors, who are reviewers and critics from around the world. It was later named the best movie of the decade in a poll of critics by the Toronto International Film Festival's Cinematheque, a year-round screening program focused on world cinema.

Two years ago, the French government made Mr. Apichatpong a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, a distinction shared by the likes of novelist Julian Barnes and composer Philip Glass. Now, at the age of 39, he's at Cannes with "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives," a film that industry insiders see as one of the strongest contenders for the festival's highest award, the Palme d'Or. There are 18 films in the running.

Inspired by a pamphlet written by a Buddhist monk about a man who could recount his past lives, "Uncle Boonmee" takes up one of Mr. Apichatpong's favorite themes, reincarnation. The title character, an elderly man dying of kidney failure, decides he'd prefer to have his life end back home in Isaan, Thailand's hardscrabble northeast region. Once there, he encounters his wife's ghost and his long-lost son, whose presence spurs him to remember his past incarnations, including one life as a buffalo and another as a princess. The movie ends with a journey through the jungle and into a cave, where Boonmee finally succumbs.

Few apart from the festival's organizers have viewed the film. The film's producers and crew have seen the movie, but they're keeping their cards close. Simon Field, one of the producers (with London-based Illuminations Films; "Uncle Boonmee" is a multinational co-production -- Thai, British, French, German and Spanish) did disclose in an interview that "Uncle Boonmee" has more of a storyline than the director's previous, dreamy works. Fans of Mr. Apichatpong, however, will recognize his signature style, including an inclination to play around with time and space.

The film makes a passing reference to Thailand's Communist insurgency of the 1960s and '70s, which hits a certain chord given Bangkok's current political turmoil. But politics is not what "Uncle Boonmee" is about. "The primary preoccupation has to do with this theme of reincarnation and the possibility of past lives and different levels of reality, and of the possibility of a spiritual dimension," says Mr. Field.

Indeed, Mr. Apichatpong, who grew up in the Isaan city of Khon Kaen and studied filmmaking at the Art Institute of Chicago, is no social realist. He avoids obvious statements in his movies, which share a hypnotic, nonlinear quality as well as an interest in Thai folklore and beliefs.

"'Primitive' and 'Uncle Boonmee' are personal works, they reflect my curiosity in everyday life situations," the director explained by email. "I try to present the political history in a restrained way, transforming it into another plane, like a science fiction. I hope in this way, the audience will have room for interpretation and reflection."

"Uncle Boonmee" is the 10th and final part of "Primitive," a sprawling, ambitious art project -- the previous nine parts being eight video installations and a short film, "A Letter to Uncle Boonmee" -- that Mr. Apichatpong started in 2008. Set in Nabua, an Isaan village that was the site of Communist violence in 1965, the videos range from a music video featuring a popular Thai band to one documenting the building of a wooden spaceship to the enigmatic and visually electrifying "Phantoms of Nabua," which will be showing from May 14 to July 3 at the British Film Institute in London.

Only the four-minute "Nabua Song" and "A Letter to Uncle Boonmee" allude to the village's history. In the latter, local teenagers are heard rehearsing a script that includes the line, "Soldiers once occupied this place. They killed and tortured villagers and forced them to flee to the jungle." But it's read almost casually as the camera pans across the walls of a rustic Thai home adorned with simple head-and-shoulders photo portraits. The film, which includes shots of the spaceship and the teenagers dressed as soldiers, is more about the act of remembering -- and forgetting -- than the memories themselves.

The project shows Mr. Apichatpong's ability to straddle the art and film worlds. His body of work includes numerous shorts and video installations that have been exhibited in Asia, Europe and the U.S. He's been nominated for Guggenheim Foundation's prestigious biennial Hugo Boss prize, further burnishing his reputation as an artist (the winner will be announced in November).

Though Mr. Apichatpong's films are clearly rooted in Thai culture, they've so far failed to attract mass audiences in Thailand, where slapstick comedies, sappy romances, horror movies, historical epics and action flicks pack theaters. His "Syndromes and a Century" has never even had a commercial release at home, because the director has refused to allow the cutting of four scenes -- involving what was deemed unseemly behavior on the part of doctors and monks -- that government censors demand be removed.

But among aspiring auteurs in Thailand, Mr. Apichatpong is revered as an icon, and student filmmakers try to mimic his unique style. "He's proven that you can work outside of the studio system in Thailand," says Kong Rithdee, a film reviewer for the Bangkok Post newspaper, "and that you can pursue your vision to the extreme."

Story in full here:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405...U30796119830UQH

[beejoir]

Nice, finally something that isn't Red this Yellow that.... best of luck to them.

[jcon]

Excellent.

for progress in Thai films.

[kissdani]

Excellent.

for progress in Thai films.

And lets hope this one can be shown at the cinemas in Thailand unlike the directors previous movie "Syndromes and a Century" which was banned by the Thai Censorship Board in 2007.

[Neurath]

I've not had a chance to see any of Apichartpong's films. I'll certainly try to. Does anyone know where you can get your hands on them?

[Jingthing]

I've seen all of Apichartpong's films. These are art films in the extreme. Very slow. I am a huge art film fan and his films are in some ways beyond art film, perhaps experimental. I can't really recommend them at all to the general public even those with an interest in any film about Thailand. These films are more for hard core film festival types and/or film academics.

BBC about Syndromes and a Century.

his portrait of life is all about the yin and the yang, so it follows that for everyone who finds it dull there are those who will be captivated.

I contend most everyone will find his films dull. Sorry.

I would love to see more alternative type Thai films that are more WATCHABLE to the general public. For example, a Thai version of American Beauty.

Edited May 7, 2010 by Jingthing

[Basil B]

There are a few armature film makers who seem to have got themselves it to trouble recently...

[asiawatcher]

There are a few armature film makers who seem to have got themselves it to trouble recently...

armatures do, amateurs don't LOL

[zzdocxx]

Thanks for this thread.

[Token]

I've seen all of Apichartpong's films. These are art films in the extreme. Very slow. I am a huge art film fan and his films are in some ways beyond art film, perhaps experimental. I can't really recommend them at all to the general public even those with an interest in any film about Thailand. These films are more for hard core film festival types and/or film academics.

BBC about Syndromes and a Century.

his portrait of life is all about the yin and the yang, so it follows that for everyone who finds it dull there are those who will be captivated.

I contend most everyone will find his films dull. Sorry.

I would love to see more alternative type Thai films that are more WATCHABLE to the general public. For example, a Thai version of American Beauty.

I thought 'Love of Siam', although not 'alternative' was a great film - not just for the gay theme although it did open a few eyes in Thailand. The mother of one of the gay boys (a famous Thai actress I understand), gave an outstanding performance and really made this film. Another great Thai film was one about a charity school in the north of Thailand where the hill tribe kids were given the prize of a trip to the seaside for the first time if they graduated. A wonderful little film (I don't know the name but was made with a hand-held camera by a former Miss Thailand, I understand). It made me cry!!!!!

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

I've seen all of Apichartpong's films. These are art films in the extreme. Very slow. I am a huge art film fan and his films are in some ways beyond art film, perhaps experimental. I can't really recommend them at all to the general public even those with an interest in any film about Thailand. These films are more for hard core film festival types and/or film academics.

I would agree with you jingthing. His films are only ever shown in festivals and specialty film series. To give those interested a taste, here's a pretty substantial list of the director's accomplishments at a Japanese gallery site. . . argh, just remembered URLs get vacuumed out. Google for Apichatpong and SCAIthebathhouse. Yes, it IS a gallery name.

[lomatopo]

Another great Thai film was one about a charity school in the north of Thailand where the hill tribe kids were given the prize of a trip to the seaside for the first time if they graduated. A wonderful little film (I don't know the name but was made with a hand-held camera by a former Miss Thailand, I understand). It made me cry!!!!!

"Innocence (Dek Toh)", 2006, directed by Areeya "Pop" Chumsai and Nisa Konsri. An excellent documentary.

[junkofdavid2]

I haven't seen the film but I hope it's truly great and Thailand wins the honor.

I say truly great as in my opinion, Cannes has lately been giving awards to lousy films from "underprivileged" countries for political reasons.

That "Slumdog Millionaire" wasn't bad, maybe even a 'bit' good, but was WAY below all the hype and by no means commensurate to the great award.

[sabaijai]

I've seen all of Apichartpong's films. These are art films in the extreme. Very slow. I am a huge art film fan and his films are in some ways beyond art film, perhaps experimental. I can't really recommend them at all to the general public even those with an interest in any film about Thailand. These films are more for hard core film festival types and/or film academics.

I would agree with you jingthing. His films are only ever shown in festivals and specialty film series. To give those interested a taste, here's a pretty substantial list of the director's accomplishments at a Japanese gallery site. . . argh, just remembered URLs get vacuumed out. Google for Apichatpong and SCAIthebathhouse. Yes, it IS a gallery name.

URLs are fine as long as they aren't promoting your own commercial venture or a directly competing forum.

[A_Traveller]

And the Palme d'Or goes to Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

Congratulations

Regards

[sabaijai]

Thai film 'Uncle Boonmee' takes Cannes top prize

AFP May 23, 2010 12:02 PM

CANNES, France, May 23, 2010 (AFP) - Thailand’s Apichatpong Weerasethakul on Sunday took the Palme d’Or top prize at the Cannes film festival with a surreal, hypnotic meditation on reincarnation.

The 39-year-old’s "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" sees a lost son return as a monkey ghost, a disfigured princess have sex with a catfish and a dead wife return to guide her husband into the afterlife.

Apichatpong used his trip to Cannes to denounce his country’s tough censorship rules. He told reporters there that "Uncle Boonmee" was a parable "on a cinema that’s also dying or dead."

[jitenshaman]

for progress in Thai films.

And lets hope this one can be shown at the cinemas in Thailand unlike the directors previous movie "Syndromes and a Century" which was banned by the Thai Censorship Board in 2007.

we also now have a few less theatres where the film can be screened.

[thepodest]

It's really sad how a Thai film maker goes oversea to win a top prize yet Thailand fails to see his achievements because of censorship.

[Jingthing]

There is only a very tiny market for art films, Thai or otherwise, in Thailand cinemas. The censorship part is overblown given the lack of interest in such movies.

[clown]

Funny, why hasn't his speech been mentioned? Or is it not allowed in Thailand?

[webfact]

topic continues here.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Thai-Film-Ta...ze-t368555.html

//CLOSED//