Cemetery of Splendor, 2016.
Directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul.
Starring Banlop Lomnoi, Jenjira Pongpas, Jarinpattra Rueangram and Sakda Kaewbuadee.
SYNOPSIS:
A group of soldiers in a small town on the Mekong River in northern Thailand are struck with a bizarre sleeping illness.
Apichatpong Weerasethakul has brought Thai art cinema to the forefront in the past two decades through his no-rules approach to cinematic experimentation. His works often tiptoe the line between dreams and reality, with spirits existing among the living as if they were close neighbours. His unique brand of storytelling finally achieved recognition in 2010 after winning the Palme d’Or for his best film, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, So it came as a surprise to many cinephiles to learn that his latest feature, Cemetery of Splendor, would be screening in Un Certain Regard this year, a section often cluttered with new filmmakers, not veterans like Weerasethakul.
Sadly, after leaving the theater disappointed a couple weeks ago, I can’t even recognise why it got into the festival this year. A collective breath of “thank god it’s over” was let out by all attendees in my screening, and walkouts were aplenty. While I don’t think it’s necessarily the worst film of the year, I find it hard to believe that Apichatpong tried very hard at all with this film, and it feels more like a tired retread of his already repetitive catalogue than an attempt at anything new.
The film’s plot concerns a woman’s experience with a group of soldiers that are suffering from an unexplainable sleeping sickness. What is real and what is metaphor is often blurred, and visual symbolism is aplenty. This may sound good in theory, but the result is like watching a concert with the sound off. Apichatpong has always been known for a certain amount of restraint in his films, but there is nothing in the two-hour running time that even qualifies as a plot point. The fact that the film is neither a slice-of-life narrative nor a traditional narrative leaves the plot in a lukewarm puddle. Nothing new is discovered, and no emotions are drawn out, thanks to the undercooked style of the narrative. A few moments of humour are helpful, but are merely a short distraction.
The cinematography is obviously fantastic as usual from Weerasethakul. Colour is used to astounding effect in the scenes of the hospital at night, and there are some breathtaking uses of deep focus, but I am reluctant to say that any of this can save the film from it’s most major flaw. The acting is confusing, as the only way you can feel the emotions of the characters is by reading the subtitles, because the actors themselves don’t make any effort to do more than just read their lines. I think the film would have worked just as well if all of the characters were wearing masks, because they were so useless in divulging any information beyond the words in the script, and in a film that is as high-concept as this, it is a mortal sin to take away the power of inference from your audience because they cannot look into the character’s intentions.
Despite understanding that Apichatpong is a poet first and foremost, and knowing that his film was never going to be a walk in the park to watch, sadly this film was flat-out boring. The usual idiosyncrasies we see from his work are not to be found here, and everything that is usually good about his work is lost, as we are left with a skeleton lacking any meat whatsoever. The motif of sleep is not enough to carry the film by itself, and definitely sent a few of my fellow viewers into a slumber of their own. Maybe some of his hardcore fans may enjoy this work and find a lot more in it than I did, but in my case, I’m surprised I didn’t leave the theatre early.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★
Michael Garmonsway
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https://youtu.be/b7Ozs5mj5ao?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
Originally published June 19, 2016. Updated April 14, 2018.
