Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010)

I'm not entirely sure what I thought about this film. To say it's a little odd is understating it somewhat. The film revolves around Boonmee, living in the country in Thailand as he is dying, surrounded by his family in his dying days. One day when sitting down to eat his dead wife materialises in a seat at the table. No-one seems entirely shocked by this event, as the two of them begin to talk about life, death and mortality. Shortly after, an ape like creature appears in the doorway. He introduced himself as Boonmee's son, explaining his appearance on his having mated with a monkey spirit. This isn't even the strangest scene in the film.

This film won the Palme D'ore at Cannes, which is the main reason I bought it, out of curiosity. And I think it's good to compare it to last year's winner, Tree Of Life. Both of the films are slow, very slow. Both look at the idea of life, what we perceive as life and our own mortality; both have segments in the middle that don't really seem to add much to the rest of the story, merely sit there and by osmosis add something to the film, and both have confused the hell out of audiences. Tree of life, when I first saw it, I hated it. I thought it was a pretentious load of crap, that had little worth besides some good performances. And yet I went back to see it, coming out the second time thinking that the film was fantastic, that the middle segment didn't work, but that the surrounding part was fantastic; yet the girl I went with hated it.

So Boonmee - first viewing and I really don't know what to make of it. It's a very peaceful film, and it definitely makes you stop and think about what's important to you. The ending is very interesting as well, and I think personally tells an important message about modern life. However, I don't quite know what happened, and I don't know whether this impaired my enjoyment or not. I feel as though I want to watch it again, but am also put off doing so. It's not often a film leaves me feeling this way, and in a way it's refreshing, to have seen something that has definitely left an impression on me, yet confuses me to the extent that I don't know whether I enjoyed it or not.

I guess the biggest question is would I recommend it to a friend. I would have to say yes, though it would have to be a friend with an open mind. I think a lot of people would hate this film, with a passion; an equal number could potentially love it. So I would say yes, watch it, make up your own mind, hopefully by then I'll know how I feel too.