Trailer Watch: Apichatpong Weerasethakul's "Cemetery Of Splendor"
King of Magical Realism
Trademark images of nature and neon lights feature in an international trailer for Thailand's cinematic master Apichatpong "Joe" Weerasethakul's new film, Cemetery Of Splendor. Joe is best known for his wonderfully nuanced, abstract, deeply emotional and critically acclaimed Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. This film seems to follow in a similiar vein, emphasising the themes of the effects of war on individuals and the dream-world. The IMDB short summary for the films describes the film as:
"Love in Khon Kaen tells of a lonesome middle-age housewife who tends a soldier with sleeping sickness and falls into a hallucination that triggers strange dreams, phantoms, and romance."
Unless you understand Thai or have a working knowledge of French, then the trailer will won't tell you much - to be fair, if you speak Thai and French, you'll probably understand to the same degree. Joe's films are cinematic and inherently emotional, and the trailer is cut to give a sense of tone rather than anything more.
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