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Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

Original title: Loong Boonmee raleuk chat
  • 20102010
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 54m
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
16K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Loong Boonmee raleuk chat (2010)
On his deathbed, Uncle Boonmee, recalls his many past lives.
Play trailer1:41
1 Video
99+ Photos
  • Drama
  • Fantasy

Dying of kidney disease, a man spends his last, somber days with family, including the ghost of his wife and a forest spirit who used to be his son, on a rural northern Thailand farm.Dying of kidney disease, a man spends his last, somber days with family, including the ghost of his wife and a forest spirit who used to be his son, on a rural northern Thailand farm.Dying of kidney disease, a man spends his last, somber days with family, including the ghost of his wife and a forest spirit who used to be his son, on a rural northern Thailand farm.

IMDb RATING
6.7/10
16K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Apichatpong Weerasethakul
  • Writers
    • Phra Sripariyattiweti(inspired by the book of)
    • Apichatpong Weerasethakul
  • Stars
    • Thanapat Saisaymar
    • Jenjira Pongpas
    • Sakda Kaewbuadee
Top credits
  • Director
    • Apichatpong Weerasethakul
  • Writers
    • Phra Sripariyattiweti(inspired by the book of)
    • Apichatpong Weerasethakul
  • Stars
    • Thanapat Saisaymar
    • Jenjira Pongpas
    • Sakda Kaewbuadee
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 91User reviews
    • 219Critic reviews
    • 87Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 11 wins & 25 nominations

    Videos1

    Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
    Trailer 1:41
    Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

    Photos103

    Loong Boonmee raleuk chat (2010)
    Jenjira Pongpas, Sakda Kaewbuadee, and Natthakarn Aphaiwonk in Loong Boonmee raleuk chat (2010)
    Loong Boonmee raleuk chat (2010)
    Loong Boonmee raleuk chat (2010)
    Loong Boonmee raleuk chat (2010)
    Jenjira Pongpas and Sakda Kaewbuadee in Loong Boonmee raleuk chat (2010)
    Jenjira Pongpas, Kanokporn Tongaram, and Sakda Kaewbuadee in Loong Boonmee raleuk chat (2010)
    Jenjira Pongpas and Kanokporn Tongaram in Loong Boonmee raleuk chat (2010)
    Jenjira Pongpas and Kanokporn Tongaram in Loong Boonmee raleuk chat (2010)
    Loong Boonmee raleuk chat (2010)
    Jenjira Pongpas, Sakda Kaewbuadee, Natthakarn Aphaiwonk, and Thanapat Saisaymar in Loong Boonmee raleuk chat (2010)
    Jenjira Pongpas, Natthakarn Aphaiwonk, and Thanapat Saisaymar in Loong Boonmee raleuk chat (2010)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Thanapat Saisaymar
    Thanapat Saisaymar
    • Boonmeeas Boonmee
    Jenjira Pongpas
    Jenjira Pongpas
    • Jenas Jen…
    Sakda Kaewbuadee
    Sakda Kaewbuadee
    • Tongas Tong…
    Natthakarn Aphaiwonk
    • Huayas Huay…
    Geerasak Kulhong
    Geerasak Kulhong
    • Boonsongas Boonsong…
    Wallapa Mongkolprasert
    Wallapa Mongkolprasert
    • Princessas Princess
    Kanokporn Tongaram
    • Roongas Roong
    • (as Kanokporn Thongaram)
    • …
    Samud Kugasang
    • Jaaias Jaai…
    Sumit Suebsee
    • Soldieras Soldier
    Mathieu Ly
    • Farmeras Farmer
    Vien Pimdee
    • Farmeras Farmer
    Akachai Aodvieng
    Prakasit Padsena
    Nikom Kammach
    Chophaka Chaiyuchit
    Winai Ruenrerng
    Kumgieng Jittamaat
    Miti Jittamaat
    • Director
      • Apichatpong Weerasethakul
    • Writers
      • Phra Sripariyattiweti(inspired by the book of)
      • Apichatpong Weerasethakul
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    Suffering from acute kidney failure, Uncle Boonmee, who lives in a house on a farm with his sister-in-law Jen and his nephew Tong has chosen to spend his final days surrounded by his loved ones in the countryside. Surprisingly Huay, the ghost of his deceased wife appears to care for him, and his long lost son returns home in a non-human form. Contemplating the reasons for his illness, he treks through the jungle with his family to a mysterious hilltop cave - the birthplace of his first life.
    • cave
    • deathbed
    • funeral
    • deadpan comedy
    • zoophilia
    • 82 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Genres
      • Drama
      • Fantasy
    • Certificate
      • Not Rated
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Shot on 16mm film rather than digital. Director Apichatpong Weerasethakul wanted to film in this format as the film is all about dying traditions.
    • Goofs
      The first time a ghost appears, during dinner, the nephew passes the ghost a glass of water. You can see the ghost image superimposed over the nephew's arm when he places the glass of water on the table.
    • Quotes

      Boonsong: I couldn't have experienced this if I hadn't mated with a monkey ghost.

    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: Cannes Film Festival 2010 (2010)

    User reviews91

    Review
    Top review
    A state of concentration..
    This movie is meditation, a state of concentration. I only wish I wasn't tired when I saw it last night because my concentration waned, I could feel the movie slipping between my fingers and trying to wilfully sustain the experience can't work. This is a Buddhist film, but it's Thai Buddhist (the form they practice in Thailand came from Sri Lanka and is from the earliest strata of Buddhism), it's spiritual but it's not esoteric in the manner of the Tibetans, ancient but not arcane. It's not Buddhist because Boonmee may or may not be recalling on his deathbed his past and future lives, or because there are ghosts and demons and a talking catfish, this is colorful lore, the illusory flowers of mind. It's Buddhist because it's aware of the moment. Not so strangely, it's the fantastical bits that seem to make the film watchable for most people, yet if we come to this film to satisfy our need for something to happen, we break the spell. The spell here for me is the awareness of life as is, the clear vision of a heaven in the present world.

    Here's a camera that doesn't describe a world, it allows it to emerge in its own time. Sometimes this tests my patience but I appreciate that it doesn't make amends and concessions. Cessation, stillness of mind, true perception, these are all vital and desirable here, and they can only happen in their own time, they can't be forced. I appreciate that and I appreciate the limitations of my own viewing. In those moments that my eyes and the movie adjust, I am blissful. Two moments exemplify this, the one is a table out in the verandah by night, insects buzzing around a light and everything is quiet, this is the summer night for me. The other is Uncle Boonmee lying down on a bed in his honeykeeping shed, it's noon and crickets are humming from the trees, this is the summer day. It reminds me of the remembrance of spring in Kiarostami's The Wind Will Carry Us.

    The finale is rather interesting, despite the above. A lot of viewers seem to regard it as Weeresethakul's comment on the alienation fostered by the niceties of modern society. It is its own comment on the place of Buddhism in one such society, where the garments of the monk mean nothing, but instead of inferring that a day's hard work out in the open is preferable to watching TV Weeresethakul could have not made a movie to begin with (that calls for us to sit alone from one another in a dark room where flickering lights are projected).

    But I don't think that such a simple conclusion was what was intended. I see vision that wants to encompass the world of ambiguities. The family may be sitting in the silent, staring at a box, but I got the sense of quiet warmth coming from the simple togetherness, a certain soothing affect that is possible only in people who can sit together without a need for words. Who can relax simply in the presence of each other.

    This is valuable work, and I believe it will be cherished by viewers who feel the chakras of cinema should be purified and set ablaze now and then.
    helpful•15
    9
    • chaos-rampant
    • Jan 18, 2011

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 1, 2010 (France)
    • Countries of origin
      • Thailand
      • United Kingdom
      • France
      • Germany
      • Spain
      • Netherlands
    • Languages
      • Thai
      • French
      • Lao
    • Also known as
      • Bác Boonmee
    • Filming locations
      • Thailand
    • Production companies
      • Kick the Machine
      • Illuminations Films
      • Anna Sanders Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $184,292
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $23,540
      • Mar 6, 2011
    • Gross worldwide
      • $1,214,424
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 54 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby SR
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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