thursday weerasethakul film at walker: Syndromes & A Century

More film love for Apichatpong Weerasethakul at the Walker this week, as they screen his 2006 work Syndromes and a Century this Thursday night at 7:30.  Despite it being around for five years, the film has never screened in Minneapolis.  They're showing it for free, maybe as a way to make up for the long wait.

Never before screened in Minneapolis, Syndromes and a Century was voted the Best Film of the Decade in a recent Toronto International Film Festival poll. Inspired by the life of the director’s physician parents, the story is split into two sections—one set in a rural clinic, the other in an urban hospital. In each, the action and characters are repeated in an exploration of love and entangled human relationships. This transcendent film of gentle beauty was praised as “profoundly mysterious, erotic, funny, gentle, playful, utterly distinctive" (Guardian). 2006, in Thai with English subtitles, 35mm, 105 minutes.

If you marveled at the gorgeous jungle scenery in Uncle Boonmee, then you're going to love the stunning visual treatment of these hospitals:



If I were a braver film critic I'd whip up a little review of this film, but my confidence is lacking for the moment (and probably will be for many years with regards to Weerasethakul's films).  I'll just say it's not as provocative as Uncle Boonmee (the Thai government might disagree), and a little less accessible.  for those who did see Uncle Boonmee, you might understand that that's saying something.