Review of Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010) by Nicolas W — 12 Oct 2018
Uncle Boonmee, a farmer and beekeeper, dying of kidney disease is visited by the ghost of his dead wife who leads him to a cave that is the passage between life and death. His dead son appears transformed into an ape-like creature with eyes like burning red coals.
He is guided through past incarnations in a succession of phantasmagorical scenes. A princess enters a pool where she has sex with a catfish. Souls routinely transmigrate between humans and animals. The real world of Thai politics is alluded to but it is not fully specified and never interferes with the magical enigma of Boonmee's life and the film's languorous tropical surrealism.
Trance-like, oblique and baffling: this is a film built on surprising, beautiful images rather than being constrained by a narrow linear construct. The visual impact and the sense of wonder that it generates is stunning.
It is a film that I could watch again and again.
This review of Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010) was written by Nicolas W on 12 Oct 2018.
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives has generally received positive reviews.
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