:
Apichatpong Weerasethakul,
Apichatpong Weerasethakul
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: Not Rated
: Plexifilm
: Documentary, Foreign, Biographies, Southeast Asia, Experimental/Avant-Garde
: 85 min.
: Thai
: English
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An adventurous experiment in cinematic storytelling, this low-budget independent Thai feature is structured like the Surrealist idea of the "exquisite corpse." One person begins a story, and a succession of others continue it in whatever way they see fit. Director Apichatpong Weerasethakul gleans his participants from all over the Thai countryside. The story, begun by a young woman with a personal history harrowing enough for its own movie, concerns a wheelchair-bound boy and his enigmatic tutor Dogfar. As the tale is passed along between a variety of rural characters (including, at one point, a traveling dance troupe who perform it for an audience), everything from kidnappings to space aliens are added to the mix. The film alternates between the storytellers and the story they tell, along with "behind the scenes" shots and other documentary footage that blur the line between fiction and non-fiction and make the film itself a witty, quirky exploration of the very notion of storytelling. ~ Tom Vick, All Movie Guide
"Mysterious Object at Noon, the title of his first feature, applies to his entire project," J. Hoberman once wrote of Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Jonathan Marlow talks to the Thai director whose work is mysteriously intriguing enough to be awarded the Special Jury Prize at Cannes. Full Article >>
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| A Mystery
by talltale
September 24, 2005 - 8:09 PM PDT
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0 out of 10 members found this review helpful
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Apichatpong Weerasethakul had made five short films by the time (2000) he tried his nearly full-length MYSTERIOUS OBJECT AT NOON. During the interview with the director (and now writer) that is the sole "Special Feature" on the DVD, he notes that, while he wanted to go to film school in his native Thailand, there were none (or no good ones, at least). After seeing "Mysterious Object," one wonders less about his attending film school than whether this guy ever viewed an actual motion picture before attempting to make one.
So unsophisticated in every way is his story, camera, script; so jumpy, grainy and scratched is his film; so nowhere does his narrative/documentary proceed (and fitfully, too) that one could almost wonder if this might somehow represent the height of our current trend toward "sophisticated naiveté." Along the way, A.W., as I shall now abbreviate, stumbles over the culture of storytelling and America's influence on Thailand, among other non-topics.
When I watched his "Blissfully Yours," some years back, I found it alternately exotic and grueling and had to occasionally pinch myself in order to keep from falling asleep (even with a couple of hardcore scenes included in his film!). I'll give his new "Tropical Malady" a try when it appears on DVD, since many critics claim to be in awe. Yet this director seems at times so strangely perverse that he may simply not care about his audience and rather be satisfied to try something new, create a different film vocabulary, and wow 'em at this or that festival. Fine and dandy. But I suspect No-Doze will have to be part of my menu when dealing with his work. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 5.87)
45 Votes
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