Notwithstanding the busy, Competition-focused schedules that forced our contributors to miss it, few Cannes titles pique interest quite like Apichatpong Weerasethakul‘s Cemetery of Splendour. (Blame an Un Certain Regard placement that baffled most festival attendees.) The Thai filmmaker (who prefers you not break your neck over pronunciation and instead call him “Joe”) returned after his 2010 Palme d’Or winner, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives — most seem to pretend, perhaps rightfully, that the hour-long experiment Mekong Hotel never showed up in 2012 — with a dreamlike, dream-heavy work that defies classification. All classification except the claim that it’s among the year’s best and deserves a place alongside his finest work.
Following May’s initial preview, a slightly longer trailer has made its way online — one I, as a person who greatly anticipates the picture, won’t be watching, but which any who are unsure might wish to give a look:
Synopsis:
Soldiers with a mysterious sleeping sickness are transferred to a temporary clinic in a former school. The memory-filled space becomes a revelatory world for housewife and volunteer Jenjira, as she watches over Itt, a handsome soldier with no family visitors. Jen befriends young medium Keng who uses her psychic powers to help loved ones communicate with the comatose men. Doctors explore ways, including coloured light therapy, to ease the mens’ troubled dreams. Jen discovers Itt’s cryptic notebook of strange writings and blueprint sketches. There may be a connection between the soldiers’ enigmatic syndrome and the mythic ancient site that lies beneath the clinic. Magic, healing, romance and dreams are all part of Jen’s tender path to a deeper awareness of herself and the world around her.
Cemetery of Splendor will be given U.S. distribution by Strand, who have yet to set a release date.