Writer/director Apichatpong Weerasethakul (let's just call him A.W.) burst onto the Sundance scene in 2010 with Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. After premiering at the Cannes Film Festival last may, he returns to Park City to share his latest feature, Cemetery of Splendor, with American audiences for the first time. After seeing this film, it is clear that A.W.'s subtle mastery of the cinematic language affords him the status of being one of the world's most exciting visual storytellers.
The story of Cemetery of Splendor involves a middle-aged housewife, and her wards, tasked with caring for a group of recovering soldiers. These men are nearly all in a coma-like slumber until one of them finally awakes, prompting our heroine on a journey through an Inception-like world where dreams and reality blur in a far more understated fashion.
The film's slow pace and Thai language may be off-putting for less discerning viewers, but rest assured that the deliberate nature with which A.W. approaches this story only reinforces the emotional impact of the images onscreen. This lends us more time to contemplate and accept this vivid "netherworld" which A.W. would have us believe exists within our own. For example, notice how the neon tubes seem to emerge from the ground near each soldier's bedside like glowing grave markers. These men aren't necessarily dead, but A.W. allows us to contemplate all sorts of alternatives without the use of dialogue in sections like this.
In fact, the film's most insightful, poignant moments come at times in which no words are spoken.
Cemetery of Splendor is a film rich with so much texture, both visually and emotionally, that it is impossible to fully digest after only one viewing. I expect it will have a long and healthy shelf life as it is studied, discussed and scrutinized as one of the 21st century's defining cinematic achievements.
A+
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