Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010)

*

This film feels so pointless. It is slow and has no clear plot or flow of narrative. Instead you are presented with incredibly long scenes and only a few seem to relate fully to one another; several of these scenes are just of leaves or the like. The script (in Thai) makes reference to certain political issues, etc. and can be pulled apart to reveal hidden depths but it is too boring for the audience to pay enough attention to really grasp the message. Every line is also spoken in the same manner, regardless of which character is speaking. Everything is overly controlled and emotionless, which is a shame.

The one positive about this film is its incorporation of magical realism. There are several scenes that used this technique and in such a starkly bare film the understated introduction of fantasy was a very welcome. The creativity of the magical characters, for instance their ghost is not a typical portrayal of a ghost and this is refreshing (especially recently with the obsession of the same monsters in popular culture).