Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

Directed by: Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Run Time: 114 Minutes
Release Date: 2 March 2011 (New York City only)
Dropps: 7/10

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives is the newest film from world-renowned Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Weerasethakul is famous for his 2002 film Tropical Malady, which made a splash on its festival run last year, even nabbing the Palme d’Or at Cannes. It’s a slow reflection on life, death, and time that ultimately delivers using haunting imagery and dry humor.

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives is about a farmer dying of kidney failure named Boonmee, who decides to enjoy his last days in the company of his close friends and family in his jungle home. Once he is joined by his wife’s ghost and his son’s spirit, Boonmee begins to recall his previous lives and explores the fading borders between the living and the dead, the past and the present.

It is not a film that can be watched with any expectations; the world created by Weerasethakul is one that is cannot be explained linguistically. It is a world where everything that happens has to be accepted for what it is and how it is presented. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives is exceedingly slow-paced and at times the speed feels unwarranted, but it is worth the wait for what the film will give for your time.
Weerasethakul has crafted a film filled with startling and powerful images, sprinkled with dark, unexpected humor that all circle around dark (yet hopeful) philosophical theories. Ultimately, it delivers.

-Dylan Kenyon