CIFF: Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

By Rob Christopher in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 13, 2010 4:20PM

This is part of Chicagoist's coverage of the Chicago International Film Festival.

Supposedly, Steve Martin once said, “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture,” and this Palme d’Or-winner is exactly that kind of deceptively simple charmer. The harder you try to describe it, the more elusive it is. But we’ll have a go at it.

This magical non-fairy tale fairy tale takes place in a world where a family hardly bats an eye when a sister’s ghost suddenly materializes at the dinner table, monkeys have eyes like red laser beams, and a princess sits beside a pool conversing with a catfish. Yet director Weerasethakul’s exceedingly gentle rural surrealism makes for a genuine hush and wonder each time a non sequitur appears. The plot, such as it is, centers on the title character, who owns a tamarind farm in the country and is dying of kidney failure. His wife’s ghost visits him in order to guide him to the great beyond--although, as she says, “Heaven’s overrated.”

Uncle Boonmee is as languidly paced as any film in recent memory, but the coupling of its magnificent visuals and wry sense of humor seem to suspend time. Even when nothing is "happening," the screen is dense with textures and details to take in. We wouldn’t dream of spoiling the ending by writing about it. Suffice it to say that If you give yourself over to Uncle Boonmee, it won’t be hard to find yourself under its spell.

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives screens on October 15. Only rush tickets are still available; however the film is scheduled to have a wide release next spring.