Employing something of an ‘exquisite corpse’ mode of production, Mysterious Object At Noon saw director Apichatpong Weerasethakul travel from town to town across Thailand, interviewing people along the way. He gives his first interviewee the freedom to make up an anecdote, and she begins telling a story about a disabled boy who notices something fall from his teacher’s skirt. The next interviewee is played back this recording and is invited to continue the story in preparation for the next person, and so forth. The story quickly becomes rather surreal, almost sci-fi, as we learn that the fallen object is in fact another boy, hell bent on destroying the teacher by ‘becoming’ her. Weerasethakul binds the story together by filming equally illusory fictional vignettes of the boy and his teacher.
As detached as it sounds, Mysterious Object At Noon is a surprisingly charming piece of work. The interviewees’ additions to the story are fairly arbitrary, maintaining a sense of mystery throughout. One of the most heart-warming moments of the film comes around halfway, when a large group of villagers is huddled around the tape recorder, each person bursting out excitedly with new parts of the story. The villagers then act it out as an impromptu play for the rest of the village. This unified imagination comes into play again as Weerasethakul visits a classroom. At heart, the film is a fascinating, considerate exploration of the Thai people, and how their hopes, dreams and superstitions colour the way they see the world.
Stories On Human Rights is a compilation film, culling directorial talents from around the world to address issues of human rights. Below is a list of the constituent films and my opinion. The rating reflects my reaction to the project overall. Each film can be found on Youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/user/artfortheworld001
DANGEROUS GAMES
A blunt but succinct manipulation of war iconography
DES FILMS À FAIRE
Interesting concept, but inaccessible as a short
VOYAGE
Sweetly minimalistic; beautiful photography
IMPASSE
Quietly clever; heavy impact without dialogue
THE VOICE
Unevenly paced but powerfully abrupt ending
THE CROSSING
Unusual but amusing approach to the subject
LA MANGUE
Vivid exploration of the theme of fertility
WHAT ABOUT ME?
A lukewarm satire; needlessly reductive
TRUST
Beautiful; perhaps a bit too subtle
DIGNITY
Simple idea, marvellous execution
SOBRAS
Cutting-edge; reminiscent of the 'hair' shot in Alain Resnais’ Nuit Et Brouillard
A BOY, A WALL AND A DONKEY
Sweetly humorous; perhaps too developed for a short film?
LILY AND RA
Somewhat charming, but lack of subtlety and poor acting
BLACK BREAKFAST
Subtle and intriguing; good use of muted colours
A WATER TALE
Wonderful shooting style and sound design; unique concept
GARISH SUN
Devoid of the sentiments evoked by the final subtitle
Breakfast is an important meal. It sets you up for the day and gives you the required nutrients, no more, no less - it's a square meal. And this, in a way, is what this film review blog is meant to do. No matter what sort of film it is, every review gets exactly 250 words - just enough to get your RDA of plot, background info and critique.
I try my best to watch and review films from all over the place, in the same way I might have French toast one morning, and Coco Pops the next. Anyway, I'll leave you to get stuck in. Feel free to give me feedback, ask me where to find films, tell me off for unfair comments... I'm all ears. Bon appétit!
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