Thai Film Takes Cannes Top Prize

[webfact]

Thai film takes Cannes top prize

CANNES (AFP) - Thailand's Apichatpong Weerasethakul on Sunday took the Palme d'Or top prize at the Cannes film festival with a surreal and hypnotic meditation on reincarnation set in the jungle.

Spanish actor Javier Bardem and Italy's Elio Germano shared the best actor award and France's Juliette Binoche won the best actress prize for her role as an unhappy art dealer in Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami's film "Certified Copy".

The 39-year-old Apichatpong'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 said after receiving the award from festival jury president Tim Burton that he wanted to thank "the spirits in Thailand that surrounded us" while making the film.

Winning the top prize was "like another world for me ... this is surreal," he said at the awards festival.

The director earlier this week denounced 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."

-- ©Copyright AFP 2010-05-24

Published with written approval from AFP.

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

[webfact]

Cannes winner Apichatpong: an outspoken Thai outsider

by Rory Mulholland

CANNES (AFP) -- Thailand's Apichatpong Weerasethakul, the surprise winner of the top prize at Cannes, has built a career with dream-like movies that shun traditional storytelling.

The 39-year-old is also a staunch critic of censorship by the government in his country, which is currently in the throes of political unrest that has killed dozens and injured hundreds more over the last two months.

Apichatpong works outside the strict confines of Thailand's action-film studio system to make movies such as the surreal reincarnation tale "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" that won the Palme d'Or on Sunday.

He is a darling of the international festival circuit and a regular at Cannes, where in 2002 he won an award in a sidebar competition for "Blissfully Yours" and two years later took the jury prize with "Tropical Malady."

The latter was a two-parter that begins as a city love story between a soldier and a farm worker before switching to a frenzy of sex and death in the jungle.

The jungle also plays a prominent role in "Uncle Boonmee," a dreamlike film set in the bush of northeast Thailand that delves into reincarnation, politics and myth.

Apichatpong, who calls himself Joe for short, said after receiving the Cannes award from festival jury president Tim Burton that he wanted to thank "the spirits in Thailand that surrounded us" while making the film.

He said during the festival that he personally has seen ghosts.

His hauntingly beautiful movie sees a lost son return as a man-size monkey ghost, a disfigured princess have sex with a talking catfish and a dead wife return to gently guide her husband into the afterlife.

The Hollywood Reporter film magazine said the director's work was based on the philosophy of reincarnation "as all beings coexisting in one non-linear universal consciousness."

That view is "central to Apichatpong's conception of cinema as the medium with the power to replay past lives and connect the human world to animal or spiritual ones," it said.

Apichatpong, who also makes installations and music videos, was born to parents who were doctors at a rural hospital in northeastern Thailand. He studied at universities in Thailand and the United States.

He began making short films at the age of 24 and in 2000 delivered his first feature, "Mysterious Object at Noon," which mixes improvised narrative with documentary footage.

Apichatpong was at the centre of a freedom of expression row in 2007 when Thai censors objected to seemingly benign scenes in one of his films, including shots of Buddhist monks playing guitar and flying a remote-control airplane.

He said at the time that his treatment by the authorities had left him feeling "ashamed to be a Thai citizen."

The director returned to that theme during his trip to Cannes, telling reporters that "Uncle Boonmee" is a parable "on a cinema that's also dying or dead."

"But you cannot blame Thai film-makers," he said. "They cannot do anything because of these censorship laws."

The film-maker, who has his own production company called "Kick the Machine Films," said he flew out of Bangkok "as the city was burning."

The Red Shirts, who are campaigning for elections to replace a government they deem illegitimate, have mounted two months of rolling demonstrations in the Thai capital that saw clashes and blasts that killed 86 dead and injured 1,900.

"Thailand is a violent country," said Apichatpong. "It's controlled by a group of mafia."

-- ©Copyright AFP 2010-05-24

Published with written approval from AFP.

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[angiud]

Congratulation to Thailand and to the Director for the prestigious award.

I hope we'll see the whole film without cuts or any other form of censorship.

[up-country_sinclair]

Impressive.

I'm looking forward to seeing this movie.

[SomTumTiger]

Tremendous honor, and a wonderful platform to speak up about the inept and unnecessary Ministry of "Culture". Congrats!

[animatic]

TIm Burton loves things like this. I am sure his influence and the unrest in Bangkok

were instrumental in getting this film to win. That is not a bad thing. Competition is tough

and if a political component can be shown on a great film, then that is an extra nudge.

And Burton loves supernatural or extra reality type film making.

Regardless of what luck it got with Jury foreman and political relevance at the moment,

it no doubt was worthy on merits. Congratulations Joe.

[chaoyang]

Congratulation to Thailand and to the Director for the prestigious award.

I hope we'll see the whole film without cuts or any other form of censorship.

Congratulations. Would love to see it.

I recall the movie "Nang Nak" about ghosts, etc., and thought it was a scary and moving film. Excellent.

[canuckamuck]

Of course this film will be banned in Thailand because of the director's total disregard for the use of Boing sounds and slide whistles, and even worse than that, it is rumored that absolutely no one gets slapped on the head in this movie, not even a midget or an overweight katoey.

[SomTumTiger]

Of course this film will be banned in Thailand because of the director's total disregard for the use of Boing sounds and slide whistles, and even worse than that, it is rumored that absolutely no one gets slapped on the head in this movie, not even a midget or an overweight katoey.

[CHdiver]

Of course this film will be banned in Thailand because of the director's total disregard for the use of Boing sounds and slide whistles, and even worse than that, it is rumored that absolutely no one gets slapped on the head in this movie, not even a midget or an overweight katoey.

Thailand needs good News. Well done and congratulations. Looking forward to watch the movie now.

[lazygourmet]

TIm Burton loves things like this. I am sure his influence and the unrest in Bangkok

were instrumental in getting this film to win. That is not a bad thing. Competition is tough

and if a political component can be shown on a great film, then that is an extra nudge.

And Burton loves supernatural or extra reality type film making.

Regardless of what luck it got with Jury foreman and political relevance at the moment,

it no doubt was worthy on merits. Congratulations Joe.

[KKvampire]

Thai movie wins an international prize in Europe? Now the luvvies in movie making have gone mad

[Mobi]

Thai movie wins an international prize in Europe? Now the luvvies in movie making have gone mad

Why?

Please explain.

There are some extremely good, well scripted, well acted, well directed and well shot Thai movies - some of them far superior to the trash churned out by Hollywood etc.

[sticklee]

Of course this film will be banned in Thailand because of the director's total disregard for the use of Boing sounds and slide whistles, and even worse than that, it is rumored that absolutely no one gets slapped on the head in this movie, not even a midget or an overweight katoey.

Couldn't get a sound man as they were all busy with sitcoms and game shows...lol

[KKvampire]

Interesting quote from him, we all know its true but Thais don't tend to say it very often and certainly not in public.

"Thailand is a violent country," said Apichatpong. "It's controlled by a group of mafia."

[sangfroid]

Of course this film will be banned in Thailand because of the director's total disregard for the use of Boing sounds and slide whistles, and even worse than that, it is rumored that absolutely no one gets slapped on the head in this movie, not even a midget or an overweight katoey.

And that obnoxious fat little ponce โก๊ะตี๋ Ko Tii is not in it.

Edited May 24, 2010 by sangfroid

[TheWalkingMan]

I saw the trailer... Honestly, it did not grab me and make me want to see it.

TheWalkingMan

Edit: Added preview

Edited May 24, 2010 by TheWalkingMan

[wynzlo]

I saw the trailer... Honestly, it did not grab me and make me want to see it.

TheWalkingMan

Edit: Added preview

Same here. Could just be a poor trailer I suppose, or maybe I'm just burnt out on Thai ghost movies.

Edited May 24, 2010 by wynzlo

[redfish44]

Of course this film will be banned in Thailand because of the director's total disregard for the use of Boing sounds and slide whistles, and even worse than that, it is rumored that absolutely no one gets slapped on the head in this movie, not even a midget or an overweight katoey.

defintely TV post of the day - and definitely in the running for best ever post, thanks for the laugh canuckamuck

[angrypassenger]

TIm Burton loves things like this. I am sure his influence and the unrest in Bangkok

were instrumental in getting this film to win. That is not a bad thing. Competition is tough

and if a political component can be shown on a great film, then that is an extra nudge.

And Burton loves supernatural or extra reality type film making.

Regardless of what luck it got with Jury foreman and political relevance at the moment,

it no doubt was worthy on merits. Congratulations Joe.

Thai ghost movie and Cannes film award? Juries must have gone bong!

Its purely political ! Its a medicine to heal the pain from this Somalian scenario of Thailand !

But I would love to see since it got an award and will come back here -soon

[webfact]

Apichatpong wins Palme d'Or

By The Nation/Guardian News Service

CANNES: -- Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives , directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, won the Palme d'Or - an equivalent to Best Picture, at the Cannes Film Festival last night.

The film was described as a lyrically beautiful and often surreal Thai movie.

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives , already had the best title of the 19 films in competition. Jury chairman Tim Burton named it best film, seeing off films from an impressive roster of film makers that included Mike Leigh, Ken Loach and Abbas Kiarostami.

It is the first Asian Palme d'Or winner since Kiarostami shared it with Japanese film maker Shohei Imamura in 1997.

And it came after the veteran South Korean director Hong Sangsoo on Saturday won the prestigious Un Certain Regard sidebar prize for Hahaha.

The Asian clean sweep took most Cannes watchers by surprise. Just as surprising was that there were no prizes at all for Loach and Leigh.

Burton said deciding the Palme d'Or had felt like an easy choice. The jury saw the film early and it stayed in their heads throughout the festival, he said. "The world is getting smaller and more westernised, more Hollywood-ised and this is a film where I felt I was watching from another country. It was using fantasy elements but in a way I'd never seen before so I just felt it was like a beautiful, strange dream."

Accepting the award, Weerasethakul - the first Thai winner of the Palme d'Or - said: "I would like to thank all the spirits and all the ghosts in Thailand who made it possible for me to be here."

The grand prix prize - effectively the runner-up - went to Xavier Beauvois' Of Men and Gods, his surprisingly gripping dramatisation of a true story: the 1996 deaths of French Cistercian monks kidnapped by Islamic fundamentalists.

There was little surprise that Juliette Binoche was named best actress for her role as the enigmatically named She in Abbas Kiarostami's Certified Copy. By general consent it was a stunning performance, although she told journalists this week that one of the trickiest parts of the role had been filming on Tuscan cobbles wearing heels.

The best actor prize was shared by Spaniard Javier Bardem for his memorable portrayal of an underworld businessman dieing of cancer in Alejandro González Iñárritu Biutiful; and Italian Elio Germano for Daniele Luchetti's Our Life.

Other awards given out at the ceremony included the jury prize to Chad film maker Mahamat-Saleh Haroun and his third film, A Screaming Man.

US actor Kirsten Dunst presented the best director prize to Mathieu Amalric for On Tour. The Frenchman is better known as an actor - the Bond villain in Quantum of Solace, for example, or The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - and On Tour, about Parisien burlesque performers, is his fourth film.

South Korea's Lee Chang-dong won best screenplay for Poetry.

There was only one US movie in this year's competition - Doug Liman's Iraq drama Fair Game - but there was plenty of Hollywood glamour out of competition. Russell Crowe was in town for Robin Hood, Woody Allen for You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger and Michael Douglas for Wall Street - Money Never Sleeps.

And there was, bien sûr, as much red carpet glitz as usual. Cannes is still the only place on earth that a smiling Cheryl Cole - wearing a thigh tattoo revealing Versace frock; would ever be seen walking the red carpet for a controversial drama addressing French atrocities against Algerians.

Tonight's awards ceremony, hosted by Kristin Scott Thomas, came after a Cannes festival that has been judged by most observers as lacking wow factor. There has been hardly any shock and few surprises.

Perhaps the downbeat feel is appropriate given the story which was never very far away from the Croisette this year: the continued detention of one of the competition judges, the Iranian director Jafar Panahi.

He has been in jail since 1 March, allegedly because he was planning a film around the disputed elections of last year.

It emerged over the course of the festival that Panahi has begun a hunger strike, demanding the right to see his family and access to a lawyer.

Panahi's communiqué was posted on www.laregledujeu.org and makes for chilling reading. He writes: "Finally, I swear upon what I believe in, the cinema: I will not cease my hunger strike until my wishes are satisfied.

"My final wish is that my remains be returned to my family, so that they may bury me in the place they choose."

Yesterday there were more optimistic signs. A letter from Iran's ministry of culture and guidance to Cannes president Gilles Jacob said "legal procedures in his case have been almost completed and there is much hope that he will be released soon."

Given the Panahi situation, it seems almost appropriate that this year's festival has been quite downbeat with films mining the darker seams of the human condition.

After watching eight mostly bleak short films competing for a separate sidebar prize one first-time American journalist was heard asking: "Is Cannes always this depressing?"

Certainly in the main competition, from the Hungarian Frankenstein movie to a mindlessly violent Yakuza movie there has been a fair amount of bleakness.

It was also a year in which Cannes selectors failed to include in the main contest a single film made by a woman. There were 19 films, by 19 men.

The festival did, though, close with The Tree, a French-Australian film by Julie Bertuccelli starring Charlotte Gainsbourg, a well-received movie considerably better than some of the films screened in the competition.

Among the other awards Frenchman Serge Avedikian won the short film competition for Barking Island.

-- The Nation 2010-05-24

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[Jingthing]

Award, schmaward. The film is an art film, not a typical loso Thai ghost movie by any stretch of the the imagination. In other words, death at the box office here.

Edited May 24, 2010 by Jingthing

[jayboy]

Here's the Daily Telegraph Review

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/ca...ves-review.html

[evanson]

Of course this film will be banned in Thailand because of the director's total disregard for the use of Boing sounds and slide whistles, and even worse than that, it is rumored that absolutely no one gets slapped on the head in this movie, not even a midget or an overweight katoey.

[RKASA]

Of course this film will be banned in Thailand because of the director's total disregard for the use of Boing sounds and slide whistles, and even worse than that, it is rumored that absolutely no one gets slapped on the head in this movie, not even a midget or an overweight katoey.

Plus he has a record of other films censored already. Some awards are to high light things beyond the film itself. Would cannie do something like that?

[Robby nz]

I see that Tahksin and his daughter were there

[souvenirdeparis]

I see that Tahksin and his daughter were there

where did you see that ?

[Robby nz]

On Thai TV this morning , had several pics of them.

[souvenirdeparis]

On Thai TV this morning , had several pics of them.

not a word in the French press about it, really their privacy is well-protected here.

[Jingthing]

Funny, doesn't sound like a favorable review. His films are on the very boring, slow side, not saying they don't have artistic merit, they do. They are not meant for the mass market, even the director admits that.

Funny (bad) google translation of the French --

Psychoanalysis of bamboo? Political pamphlet encrypted? No, but a chore than two hours including one wonders to whom it is addressed. Out indefinitely indoors, but certainly a beautiful palm lead.