In Haste: Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall Past Lives

There's some crazy looking, red-eyed monkey-men ghosts in Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. There's also a fair amount of still photography, slow conversations, television watching, and catfish sex in the flick.

I've been contemplating to myself, demanding, 

Dante, you sir, must decide what you think of this here film. 

You must, you must, you must! 

But I just can't seem to come to any consensus.

From what I can gather, the film is looking notsomuch at the "lives" of Mr. Uncle Boonmee, but rather, at the soul of Thailand. I think that's the point. All the different iterations of being that the consummate Thai soul has been about. When I think about the film with that lens, it's pretty interesting, right?

Right?

Li'l baby Willems

And let us not forget that those first few scenes with the red-eyes were legitimately creepy. I was taken aback, somewhere between fear and intrigue. Good stuff, I reckon...

...but then the red-eyes come into the light, and it just looks like a dark skinned Willem Dafoe conceived by a herd of evil marmosets. That kinda killed the magic for me, like walking behind closed doors at Disneyland. It ain't worth it.

I also cannot not speak of this bestiality incident. I found it to be an unpleasant experience. Simply put, I'd rather not behold such visions.

So where does that leave me? What am I supposed to do with this? 

(you must, you must, you must!)

Thankfully, I was freed from my own drilling conscience of concerned decision-making by today's spoonful of politics. I must briefly explain.

Rick Santorum is the new GOP front-runner. Good for him. Apparently, this week the military just made some sort of executive decree that women can now fight in more active ways in military service. Mr. Santorum is frustrated about this. He spoke out against the policy change. I listened to him, and felt like he made some rather realistic concerns come to the surface. I thought that maybe he had a point... but then I heard an army general speak of the reasons for the policy change. They sounded legitimate too.

Then I blinked. And blinked again. Once more for good measure. 

With my eyes sufficiently lubricated, I could now think clearly. I don't know a thing about fighting wars in the modern age. How could I? Maybe Mr. Santorum knows more than I. Maybe not. Maybe he just feels like he needs to take a stance on it because he's seeking the highest office in America. He is setting himself up to be a leader, so he has to have a strong opinion on everything, right?

I think not. 

Perhaps we should feel free to not have an opinion on every topic under the blue sky. As for women fighting in combat, I hereby raise my hand as one who knows not any answer. I feel comfortable with that decision.

As for Uncle Boonmee Who apparently Can Recall His Past Lives, I don't have a verdict.

Some stuff happens, and then it's over. Who am I to judge?

Beyond Temptation

PREFACE.
A friend of mine, while under immense emotional strain, said recently,

"I have nothing left to give."

Perhaps, to rewrite those words, I would say that the person believes that within the self there remains 'nothing good left to give'.  Surely an emotionally drained, even depressed person can give something to others, but it just so happens that this giving would not be of much benefit to the receivers.

CHAPTER ONE. DIASPORA.

 My dear and honorable friend, Nate Bell, told me outright that,  

"Antichrist is a worthless film." 

Other movie-fiends that I associate with have praised the film -- and from what I gather they tend to praise it because 'it stays with you'.  Yes, yes it does.

Roger Ebert on his blog

ended his review of the film this way,

"So it is a documentary in one way. What does it document? The courage of the actors, for one thing. The realization of von Trier's images, for another. And on the personal level, our fear that evil does exist in the world, that our fellow men are capable of limitless cruelty, and that it might lead, as it does in the film, to the obliteration of human hope. The third stage is Despair."

My pal Andrew Bowcock, over at the alternative chronicle, put "Antichrist" at #4 on his 'top 10 films of 2009' list.

He states,

"Whether or not it all works, von Trier’s Antichrist might be one of the most horrifying things you will ever witness, and will stick with you…no matter who you are.  If this wasn’t art (and I didn’t believe in it), I would say the man should be locked up." 

CHAPTER TWO. CLINIC.

Those are what others have thought.  I'm holding out... waiting as long as possible not to state an opinion --- sigh --- here it is, I guess... I think that people can reach places where they are devastatingly depressed.  Those places are wholly isolating, as depression always is.  And so as a form of coping, or perhaps as medication, a creative may extend his hand to let others in; to invite us into his misery.  This is what Lars von Trier has done; he has created a painful place to reside.

Most insidiously, von Trier, right before the closing credits, dedicates his film to Andrei Tarkovsky.  Tarkovsky might be the most symbolically spiritual and Christian filmmaker of the 20th century.  Matching the dedication to the title, I see von Trier pitting himself against the famous Russian.  Perhaps "Antichrist" is the 'AntiTarkovsky'.  

CONCLUSION.

Still, there is much to analyze in "Antichrist".  There is much left to investigate and decipher.

As for me, I will not analyze.  I will not investigate.  I will not decipher. 

This place that Lars von Trier has created; it is not somewhere I wish to stay.