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UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES (2011) (***1/2)

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This film won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010. Director Apichatpong Weerasethakul is from Thailand and the story deals with a dying man recollecting his life. This includes living, dead and missing relatives and past lives that include a shepherd, futuristic soldiers, pet apes, a princess and a frisky catfish. The whimsical title fits the mood of this surprisingly touching and humorous film.

Boonmee (Thanapat Saisaymar) is suffering from kidney disease and has a Lao nurse caring for him. His sister-in-law Jen (Jenjira Pongpas) and nephew Tong (Sakda Kaewbuadee) come to visit and help out around his farm. Boonmee proposes that if he dies Jen could leave the city and take over the farm, but she's scared of wild animals and all those smelly foreigners in the area. As we get to know them, we find that despite his health problems Boonmee is eternally optimistic, while Jen is nervous and caring. Then one night out of the blue during dinner, the ghost of Boonmee's dead wife Huay (Natthakarn Aphaiwonk) appears. And this will be the least strange appearance of the evening.

The handling of the supernatural events is unique. There is shock to begin with, but shock in the way an unexpected guest surprises. Ghosts of all kinds are believed to be part of the world as naturally as the living. Some are more unusual than others. The monkey ghosts are like black-haired Big Foots with glowing red eyes. They creep around corners and through the jungle like slowly moving shadows. Huay comes back exactly as Boonmee remembered her when she died, while his long lost son Boonsong (Geerasak Kulhong) comes back completely different.

As the living interact with the dead, we get to look into the thoughts of Boonmee and the way he lived his life. When Huay died, he followed through with a promise to start a bee farm in her honor. While he hasn't shown grief over her passing, he has missed her dearly and wonders if he dies whether they will be together in heaven. She tells him that heaven is boring because there is nothing there. Boonmee tells of how much he searched for Boonsong after he disappeared, but his son had to follow his heart. In the end, Boonmee travels to a cave where the rock sparkles in the sunlight. It looks like a womb he says and remembers being born there in one of his lives. Like so many of this film, it is otherworldly and captivating.

This dramedy presents a life, blending reality and illusion. An epilogue helps define the line a bit more for the audience. What is real or not is of no matter because it is real enough for Boonmee. It is the way he sees the world and we can forgive the indulgences of a dying man. Watch how he sees people differently then they are. Is it a skewed perception, a dream or a wish? In seeing his life unfold for us, we look at our own loves and losses and wonder how many truths in our lives are based on spirits or hopes.

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Rick DeMott
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