Lush Life: The Eerie Poetry of 'Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives'

Apichatopong Weerasethakul's Palm d'Or winner "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" is a strange concoction - part Buddhist parable, part surrealist film, part ghost story and part jungle fantasia.

For most, the director, who also goes by "Joe," is not exactly a household name, but at least two of his four previous features - the lush "Tropical Malady" and "Syndromes and a Century" - were critical darlings. His latest picture is both his most accessible and mysterious.

Set in a forested section of Thailand, the story follows the film's titular character (played by Thnapat Saisaymar) as he moves in with his sister-in-law (Jenjira Pongpas) amid his slow decline due to a kidney disorder.

He is soon visited by two ghosts: his wife, who mysteriously fades in and out at the dinner table and son, who appears as one of the film's several "monkey ghosts," complete with glowing red eyes and ape features.

Boonmee's bed is made in a quiet room in his sister-in-law's house, where he looks back on his past as his kidney is drained each day. 

The film gets curiouser and curiouser as it goes - and also more mysterious and elegiac. Boonmee and his family sets out for a trip to a cave, traveling through the woods and spotting monkeys soaring above them in the tree tops. 

He has a dream in which he sees the future. Then, the action shifts and Boonmee's sister-in-law and a few relatives have relocated to a swanky hotel. Images on a television flicker as the characters' spirits leave themselves and head out to a noisy, music filled restaurant.

Some viewers might find it maddening that Weerasethakul provides few answers to the film's narrative riddles and eerie imagery. I find it refreshing. The picture's soundtrack, filled with birds and insects chirping as well as the occasional low rumbling, fill in when the film's sparse dialogue is not being spoken. 

The film follows a preparation rite. Boonmee awaits his death, looking back on his life as the spirit world mixes with the present and past. Thrown into the mix is a story of a princess gazing into a stream and catching the image of a younger self before engaging in a sexual encounter with a catfish.

You want context? Look elsewhere. "Uncle Boonmee" is a lush fever dream. You might not be able to fully explain it, but I doubt you'll forget it.