Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Blissfully Yours arrived in the mail today. It looks interesting.

- haven't seen it
- have seen it, like it
- have seen it, don't like it

we have three films

3 x 3 x 3 = 27

c'mon this shouldn't be too hard

Blissfully Yours > Tropical Malady > Mysterious Object

Iron Pussy was...a collaboration with someone, no?

I'll try again, but I thought it was telling that I was galvanized during Blissfully Yours and I saw that the same evening.

ummmmm...

Mysterious Object Delivered At Noon?

Risk COVID if you must.

Apparently Memoria is being held over at AFI for a second week. I didn't think that was possible under the distributors' terms? (The Sunday afternoon screening I went to was sold out, and the programmers were struggling to make room for more screenings that week.)

And THIS to what everyone has been saying about the sound. By the last act my fellow audience was riveted.

I'm glad I'm waiting for it to arrive at the Walker, even if it means waiting until almost July.

― Max Hamburgers (Eric H.), Friday, April 8, 2022 8:28 AM (six days ago) bookmarkflaglink

same!

The “only playing one city at a time for a week” release schedule was apparently abandoned by the US distributor (sez Wiki).

xp

Everyone was handed a film strip with scenes from the movie upon entrance at my AFI screening. Nice lil memento.

I'm still sort of in disbelief about how astonishingly good this was

The best thing he's done since Tropical Malady IMO.

Words cannot express how disappointed I was that no fish were eaten

Finally got a chance to see Memoria yesterday, my wife and I loved it. It's still unfolding in my mind, it's a hard movie to say anything concrete about because so much of it seems to exist at the edge of perception. A movie you feel more than see, in a way. I know what Alfred means up above about holding his breath, it's so full of resonance even/especially when nothing is visibly happening. (And then when something does happen it's ... nothing you'd expect.) Lovely mysterious movie.

Afterward we had to stop by Target, and because it was 6:30 on a holiday Monday evening, the store was weirdly depopulated. We both commented after a few minutes that we felt like we were still in the movie, floating down these clean empty aisles.

Walking out into the real world afterwards, the sound of the city took on a new kind of resonance.

Yes, exactly.

i'm annoyed at myself for missing this when it came to our art house a few weeks ago.

should i just watch it at home or is too much of the effect lost that way?

If Joe ever actually releases it to home video, I'd totally recommend it — but for sure the big-screen immersion is important.

I watched it at home. It didn't open in South Florida.

I've had a screener for the last half year that I've been avoiding. I finally get a chance to see it in theaters this Friday.

played at a cinema 40min away from me in canada but the border crossing rules were still too tight for me to get there, no Weerasethakul exemptions. no sign of it coming around again anytime soon so just gonna download it and just watch it at home. feel like it might be a fun one to watch with headphones.

Yeah as noted above the sound is really essential, even in the long quiet sections.

Just got tickets to see it outside at the local gardens where we walk the dogs a few times per week. Very stoked.

i had planned to see this at the walker art center in mpls but just realized it was THIS weekend and not the upcoming one :(

hmm i guess it's also playing in duluth at the beginning of august

As far as I'm concerned, the "must be seen in a theater" gimmick was no more true of this than any of his other films. This has a particular sound mix and narrative rhythm, but so do a lot of movies that aren't subjected to such theatrical-only gatekeeping. This is the best film of 2021 I've seen -- a total beauty -- and is more accessible than the release pattern and reviews might let on. See it on a smart fridge if you have to.

haha thx

Apparently MUBI will be streaming it in some countries starting August 5. I'll see it in a cinema if I ever get the chance, but I have no regrets/apologies for watching it at home. I'm too far from anywhere.

I agree that "must see in a theater" is no more true here than his films in general (or lots of movies, obviously, particularly ones that demand/reward slow careful attention). I've seen three of his movies in theater — Tropical Malady, Uncle Boonmee and this — and all were definitely enhanced by the experience. But I've also liked the ones I've watched at home. (I do really wish I could see Blissfully Yours on a big screen.)

No one else will ever be able to say this in this thread: I saw Memoria tonight, then I hung around for Caddyshack afterwards. (Not an obscurely conceptual double-bill, just bizarre programming.)

Fifteen or 20 minutes in, Memoria had a scene with subtitles. That went on for a couple of minutes, and then, for the rest of the film, no more subtitles. Two-four-six-eight people walked out at different points. Seeing as I was staying for the second film, I stuck it out, not 100% sure if it was a mistake or intentional--part of me wondered if it was the most audacious, arrogant example ever of a director saying "This is pure cinema so pure, subtitles aren't necessary."

The rest of us got a free pass as we exited, so evidently a mistake. (It was the first of a few screenings this week.) I will try to see it again and withhold comment until I do.

No subtitles for Caddyshack, either, but even though I was seeing it for the first time, I was able to follow along for the most part.

Cool, so you liked Memoria!

I saw memoria in the theatre a couple weeks ago.

BONG!

wasn't sure about it tbh, glad I watched it but some aspects I didn't really enjoy and there's a bit near the end that made me chuckle somewhat derisively.

best scenes are the long dialogues between Tilda and the dude at the end

that bit near the end is transcendent

xxp You’re lucky, after my screening we got Caddyshack II.

Now I’m just imagining Tilda passing by Chevy Chase doing his zen driver practice in the middle of a mountain jungle lmfao

there's a bit near the end that made me chuckle somewhat derisively.

You mean the "Flight of the Navigator" ship with a new paint job? This not particularly convincing sfx shot kind of broke whatever spell the film was casting. I forget which one, but one of Jia Zhangke's films does this too - a naturalistically shot film with one special effect that sticks out like a sore thumb.

I certainly agree with a lot of the positive comments about this, but it's probably my least favourite of the five of his films I've seen.

I was not aware until I saw his name in the credits that Danny Glover has a production company that has been involved in three of Weerasethakul's films.

Props to Hernan #2 for playing dead so well for so long.

So there is going to be a physical media release for Memoria after all:

https://sovereignfilms.square.site/product/memoria-limited-collector-s-edition-bluray-dvd-/2

I want my eight bucks back!

siren.gif

https://metrograph.com/apichatpongweerasethakul/

GMC: I want to know more about what you’re working on, but first I must congratulate you: Tropical Malady was just voted one of the 100 best films of all time. I imagine you saw the Sight and Sound poll. Does that kind of recognition mean anything to you? And are you surprised Tropical Malady was singled out, rather than one of your other films?

AW: Well, sometimes I am asked to make a list, and often I change that list. So, it doesn’t mean much… And for me, it doesn’t mean one work; Tropical Malady belongs to the other pieces of my memory because they are all connected. Whatever film is in there, it’s the same, they’re connected. What is meaningful is that the film still resonates after all this time. It’s like a very, very old memory, so I’m surprised.

GMC: You’re in the process of restoring Tropical Malady, right?

AW: Yes, hopefully we’ll be able to release it by August next year.

Bought the t-shirt
http://tickets.ifccenter.com/images/user/_13370/weersethakul%20mock%20on%20natural.jpg

clem! Did you ever give Memoria a second shot?!

Never did post here about seeing Memoria -- caught it at one of some irregular Alamo screenings here last September. Very involving, I thought, and I'm glad for the experience.

forks where did you get that shirt

It's been almost two years since Memoria screened at Cannes and won the Jury Prize, and it looks like it isn't going to be available on streaming or on dvd in the US any time soon, although it is continuing to be shown at a few various small theaters around the country for one day or one week at a time.

That strategy has some brilliance, I see that it is trying to build a cult audience, but it is also very frustrating

table:
https://tickets.ifccenter.com/websales/pages/CatalogProductInfo.aspx?catinfo=3428~8722a542-64c1-4c0b-af02-c3e8a239d769&epguid=96a5becf-2226-4da1-b589-53e5c6a24d95

thanks forks

http://www.moriareviews.com/rongulator/wp-content/uploads/Tropical-Malady-2004-1-650x366.jpg

Just got this from the library, excited to watch sometime this week.

UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2010) Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Sensory Meridian Response is a wonderful thing. In the Thai genius’s movies, the characters speak slowly and hypnotically, usually in tandem with a soothing symphony of buzzing insects. Uncle Boonmee, in particular, depicts a somnolent environment in which ghosts, monsters and humans peacefully co-exist. Subsequently, the soundscape is two hours of pure pleasure, including an “aural” sex scene between a princess and a catfish that amounts to ASMR-esque ripples of water and an occasional moan. As Weerasethakul encourages viewers to fall asleep during his movies, his entire back catalogue can be appreciated with closed eyes. So much so, the director released an album of “selected soundworks” from his filmography, including the jungle noises from Uncle Boonmee.

same here but i don’t think i’ve ever heard rain sound so amazing and lifelike in a film as i did watching this in a theater

Omg WANT

on a recent long flight I had put a rip of Syndromes and a Century on my iPad and expected it to not quite work in that context, but I was drawn in and mesmerised as always. I have no idea how he sustains such a hold during long, slow takes. I find his stuff transformative to watch. I think I’m kind of addicted to how it feels.

he's coming to the walker in mpls in april. going to screen his shorts and a few days before is introducing a tsai ming-liang film

http://walkerart.org/calendar/2023/apichatpong-weerasethakul-in-conversation-with-sky-hopinka

Oh man, he's introducing Goodbye, Dragon Inn — which I think is his favorite film. I'd love to see that on a big screen.

So I made it exactly 3 minutes into Uncle Boonmee before I fell asleep. Not gonna lie, i allowed myself to nap through the entire thing. 10/10, mostly for the audio, and also for the occasional glimpses of the film i caught whenever i remembered to open my eyes.

Will rewatch 'properly' before I return it, needless to say his album of "selected soundworks" has jumped to the top of my wantlist.

I bet he would be delighted with that experience