LIGHT OF FAITH OVER CHAO PHRAYA RIVER (2010, Jirayuth Sinthupunt, A+++++)

THINGS SEEN OUTSIDE THE NEXT SHOT FESTIVAL:

1.UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES (2010, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, second time, A++++++++++)

It is still hard for me to describe why I like this film. The reasons why I like it may include:

1.1 Its unpredictability, from the strange dinner scene until the self-splitting scene near the end of the film.

1.2 Its opening scene, in which a buffalo tries to break free, but fails, makes me feel very sad. It makes me feel as sad as the scene in the dream about the future, in which people (and memory from the past) can be wiped out of this earth by the government.

1.3 I don't know what the intention of the director is. But the scene in the cave, in which the monkey-like monsters look at the dying Boonmee, inspires my imagination a lot. In my own imagination, these monkey-like monsters are the ghosts of the people who were killed by Boonmee. They are now waiting to drag Boonmee to hell. I like it very much that there seems to be no real redemption for Boonmee.

1.4 I like it very much that no one seems to care or to feel truly sad for the death of Boonmee. Jen seems to care for money, while Tong is ordained just for the tradition, not because he really feels sad for the death of Boonmee. Is the conflict between the roles these people play for the public and what they really are the reason for the self-splitting scene? I also like the conflict of the folklore princess. She seems to want to be loved as a beautiful person, not as a princess.

1.5 Its mingling of past, present, future, and the alternative present. "The past" as portrayed in this film may include the karma (the killing of communists), the dead people, the lost people, the memory, and the ancient time (as portrayed in the cave). Its ending unintentionally makes me think about the alternative present, or how we choose to do one thing or another in any second. Our decision in any second may lead to a very different future for us. This thing unintentionally reminds me of PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME (2010, Mike Newell, A+++++) and THE STICKY FINGERS OF TIME (1997, Hilary Brougher, A+++++), which says, "Time has five fingers: the past, the present, the future, what could have been, and what yet may be."

2.LIGHT OF FAITH OVER CHAO PHRAYA RIVER (แสงศรัทธาเหนือลำน้ำเจ้าพระยา) (2010, Jirayuth Sinthupunt, stage play, A+++++)
You can read the review on this play in Thai by Tasanatas in Bioscope Magazine, issue 105, August 2010.

3.KEEP THIS DREAM FOR ME FOR A WHILE, I'LL RETURN TO IT LATER (ฝากฝันไว้เดี๋ยว จะเลี้ยวมาเอา) (1992, Somkiat Wituranich, Thailand, A+)

4.INCEPTION (2010, Christopher Nolan, A+)

5.EDGE OF DARKNESS (2010, Martin Campbell, A+/A)

6. TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE (2010, David Slade, A)

7.THE STORIES OF JAO GLAE (2010, Sinsawas Yodbangtoei, exhibition)

8.DOOR (2010, an exhibition by the Faculty of the Fine Art of Bunditpatanasilpa Institute)
The paintings I like very much in DOOR are MENTAL STATUS#5 by Kornrit Kreeyot and OLD AND NEW EQUILIBRIUM IN PADDY FIELD by Sarayut Inprayoon.


THINGS SEEN IN THE NEXT SHOT FESTIVAL ON JULY 18:

1.BASIC LANGUAGE (student of FAMU in Prague, Czech, animation, A+++++)
Unfortunately, I don't know the name of the director of this surreal film. I like its surreal quality very much. I would like to screen it together with other surreal or strange animations, such as ALL THE CHAPTER OF THE SONG YOU ATE ME (2006, Arnont Nongyao), CLASS SITUATION IN SOCIETY 3 (2008, Akegaluck Sagaew), THE INVISIBLE CITY (2007, Boonsri Tangtrongsin), STREET OF CROCODILES (1986, Stephen Quay + Timothy Quay, UK), and animations by Lutz Dammbeck.
http://www.edition-filmmuseum.com/product_info.php/language/en/info/p75_Lutz-Dammbeck--Filme-und-Mediencollagen-1975-1986.html

2.HOMELAND (2009, Juan de Dios Marfil Atienza, Czech, animation, A+++++)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsg6Z4nO9pk

3.GRANDMASTER (2008, Rozálie Kohoutová, Czech, A+)

4.WHOOPS, MISTAKE! (2008, Aneta Kýrová, Czech, animation, A+)

5.BÁBA (2008, Zuzana Kirchnerová, Czech, A+)

6.ANYWHERE OUT OF THE WORLD (2010, Vincent Cardona, France, A+)

7.THE ROOM (2008, student of FAMU, Czech, A+)

8.BIRDS GET VERTIGO TOO (2010, Sarah Cunningham, France, A+/A)
http://www.premiersplans.org/festival/en/selection_officielle-competition-FE-film.php?id=208&p=3

9.IN THE MOOD FOR UNDERWEAR (2008, Jan Tesitel, Czech, A-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW99e6q37kA