Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010)
Average Rating: 7.9/10
Reviews Counted: 87
Fresh: 78 | Rotten: 9
Languorous and deeply enigmatic, Palme d'Or winner Uncle Boonmee represents an original take on the ghosts that haunt us.
Average Rating: 8.3/10
Critic Reviews: 22
Fresh: 22 | Rotten: 0
Languorous and deeply enigmatic, Palme d'Or winner Uncle Boonmee represents an original take on the ghosts that haunt us.
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Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 9,375
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Movie Info
Suffering from acute kidney failure, Uncle Boonmee has chosen to spend his final days surrounded by his loved ones in the countryside. Surprisingly, the ghost of his deceased wife appears to care for him, and his long lost son returns home in a non-human form. Contemplating the reasons for his illness, Boonmee treks through the jungle with his family to a mysterious hilltop cave - the birthplace of his first life... -- (C) Strand
Mar 2, 2011 Limited
Jul 12, 2011
$0.2M
Strand Releasing
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Cast
-
Thanapat Saisaymar
Uncle Boonmee -
Jenjira Pongpas
Jen -
Sakda Kaewbuadee
Tong -
Nattakarn Aphaiwonk
Huay (Boonmee's Wife) -
Geerasak Kulhong
Boonsong (Boonmee's Son... -
Kanokporn Tongaram
Roong (Jen's Friend in ... -
Samud Kugasang
Jaai (Boonmee's Chief W... -
Wallapa Mongkolprasert
Princess -
Sumit Suebsee
Soldier -
Vien Pimdee
Farmer
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All Critics (87) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (80) | Rotten (9) | DVD (4)
Weerasethakul's sincerity is evident, though the film's meditative pace and vague philosophical undertones will not be for everyone.
Top CriticThis is a film that wants to be interesting, and it certainly is that. Whether you want to dine with the ghost and the monkey-man or not, they bring a new perspective to the table.
As is to be expected, Weerasethakul frequently abandons the story for trancelike contemplations of nature, but never before in his work has the device felt more purposeful.
While the result is pretty much the definition of a film that should be experienced, not explained, there's no sense here that Weerasethakul is being difficult for difficult's sake, or even attempting to conceal his mysteries.
It playfully invokes both the lifestyle and animistic beliefs of the Northeast country folk, and the primitive magic of early Thai cinema, relating both of these to his musings on reincarnation.
If you are open, even in fancy, to the idea of ghosts who visit the living, this film is likely to be a curious but rather bemusing experience.
Uncle Boonmee is about ... the moments when our worlds expand; when our outlines turn out to be more porous than we thought.
Uncle Boonmee is a film to be experienced for its immediacy and thought upon for its ineffability.
Fits neatly into Weerasethakul's cinema-shaking oeuvre of beautiful experimentation. [Blu-ray]
One to absorb, to wonder at, and, perhaps most significantly, to give exposure to lines of thinking that one might not be familiar with.
Beguiling, frequently baffling and frustrating.
A stunningly beautiful visual experimental Buddhist film.
Truly enchanting.
Even if it can't be recommended to everyone, [it] blossoms inside you the longer you allow it to.
[Compared to Weerasethakul's earlier work] it's easier to get a handle on the edges, more opaque in the middle, and not as radical in its ideas or its execution.
The movie isn't paced as a conventional narrative; its story imperceptibly droops, like a heavy frond.
To visit with these characters is like watching what seems to be a slideshow of unrelated events, memories and reincarnation fantasies, but what connects them is a hypnotic quality and a serene embrace of both life and death.
Uncle Boonmee is a film that feels like some sort of skewed satire on the sort of drivel people will digest as art...
Audience Reviews for Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Huay (Boonmee's Wife): Heaven is overrated. There is nothing there
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Foreign Titles
- Uncle Boonmee Who Recall His Past Lives (DE)
- Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Loong Boonmee raleuk chat) (UK)
A lot of people criticise Uncle Boonmee for it's lack of a solid narrative. Having one wasn't the film's primary focus anyway, but what it does have, simply cannot be explained in literal terms. This art house feature was created for spiritual enlightenment so naturally, it's not your average indie flick. Despite it's incredibly slow pacing, it's overwhelming. It doesn't let it's open minded surrealism disrupt the ideas and explanations of reincarnation, ghosts and the distances and borders between lives. Even in it's weirdest moments it's intelligent, enigmatic, and engaging and perfectly blends genres such as drama, comedy and horror. Visually outstanding, thought-provoking and delightfully otherworldly, it's one of the better films of 2010.