Arthouse Garage Podcast

Podcast Transcript for Episode 32: Cemetery of Splendor

Read the Podcast Transcript for Episode 32: Cemetery of Splendor

Read the transcript below:

Andrew Sweatman 0:08
Hello Hello and welcome back to Arthouse Garage, the snob free film community where we make arthouse indie and classic cinema accessible to the masses. Today we are continuing season five, the contemporary Asian filmmakers season and we are looking at a second film from Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Today’s film is Cemetery of Splendor from 2015. This film one at the Cannes Film Festival, it’s called the uncertain regard award, not the top prize, but it’s one of the notable awards that they give out every year in addition to winning several other awards. So what is cemetery of splendor about? Well, here’s the IMDb description. It says a group of soldiers in a small town on the Mekong River in North Northern Thailand, are struck with a bizarre sleeping illness. That’s really just kind The tip of the iceberg with this movie. So I’m gonna dive into it today with my season five guests. Omaya Jones, who is back again, to follow up on last time discussion of Uncle boonmee who can recall his past lives. Omaya is a big movie fanatic and a film podcaster he has helped curate the Arkansas times film series here in Central Arkansas, which once included this film, so I’m sure he has some good things to say about it. Omaya, how are you today? And what have you been watching lately?

Omaya Jones 1:27
I’m doing great. And so this since we recorded last time, I actually rewatched the 2006 Miami Vice just continuing my latest Michael Mann obsession, and I was even more taken this time by just a story as really as it pertains to column farrells Sonny Crockett and the character play like by Li Gong like that. It’s that the romance in the way that that portion of that story is shot is reminiscent of just like some sort of like you An art film or something. Wow. And then I also watch a pair of movies this week from the 80s. One called vibes by director at not I was not familiar with it, name cuantas. And it’s just this 80s screwball comedy with Peter Fox, Cyndi Lauper and Jeff goldbloom, who can convene with spirits and they go to South America in search of some gold.

Andrew Sweatman 2:25
It’s quite a cast.

Omaya Jones 2:26
Yeah. And then I also watched a film by Susan seidelmann, who’s probably most known for desperately seeking Susan. But she made a film called Making Mr. Right, which is about this scientist who hires his ad agency to sell the idea of robotic space exploration, and the scientist is played by john malkovich and the robot that he creates is also played by john malkovich. I love it. Yeah, it’s really funny and charming and very 80s So, that was

Andrew Sweatman 3:02
awesome, really interesting. It’s funny to bring up john malkovich because he’s, I’m just probably gonna mention him a little bit later, because today’s film reminded me of another movie that has a minute. Anyway, we’ll get to that. The thing I watched recently, I watched the movie Pan’s Labyrinth for the first time from Guillermo del Toro, and I

Omaya Jones 3:23
really liked it.

Andrew Sweatman 3:24
It wasn’t what I thought I thought it was like a more of a scary movie like more of a horror movie. It’s really not at all it’s just like a dark kind of fairy tale. It’s got some scary stuff in it got some some really creatively designed monsters that are really creepy, but it’s sexy, really. It’s basically told from this little girl’s perspective and I was really fantastical and, and fun, even though it’s got some really heavy stuff in it too. And actually, it also had a little I’m always like finding the connections between the things that I’m watching for the podcasts and everything else. And there was a little bit just really kind of a mention, but I watched it Shortly after I watched cemetery splendor, and I was like, well, there it is again and they’re talking about reincarnation. And the the lead girl in the story is supposedly a reincarnated version of a princess from long ago. And so she is, she’s chosen she’s like sort of prophesied about and that’s why she’s able to see the fairies and, and go on this kind of quest. Anyway, I really liked it. I still have some more Guillermo del Toro kind of blind spots to fill in but this is a big one that I’ve always wanted to watch and finally finally knocked it out last night. Have you seen it before?

Omaya Jones 4:35
I have um, I think that’s awesome. Gilman tuturro to me is is one of those directors that says really enthusiastic about film. Yeah, in general. And and especially like, I don’t know if you ever like seen any of his designs or like his creature house or anything, but he just loves cinema and in particular, like horror cinema and fairy tales. Listening to like, I remember when I was in college, I had a friend who had I think it was the devil’s backbone on DVD, and I remember, like, I was pulling all nighters something one night, and I had that on. And just like the the DVD commentary for that was almost like a film school. Like he’s really it was really involved in just sort of like the process of the creation and the writing and the history of like, Spanish fairy tales, in gothic horror. And then they released another version on death, I think, by criterion with a completely different commentary with a completely different angle. And one was really technical, and one was less technical, but more sort of thematic and he’s just listening to him talk about film is one of my favorite things.

Andrew Sweatman 5:48
That’s really cool. So the only other film I’ve actually seen by him is shape of water, which was two or three years ago now. And there’s some interesting similarities as far as so it’s not really a Scary Movie but there’s a monster or creature. And then the the lead characters are kind of the heroes of it, I guess are all kind of marginalized people whether they’re women or like in advance I haven’t children, but then in shape of water, we have this gay man and of course, Sally Hawkins is mute and I just it takes it shows these people who are marginalized and kind of pushed out outcasts sort of that end up making the base difference and kind of fighting the system a little bit and I thought I like that about it. That’s I’m curious to watch more of his films and see if that’s something that he does a lot.

Omaya Jones 6:37
So you haven’t seen Pacific Rim?

Andrew Sweatman 6:39
Oh, yes. Pacific Rim. That’s the only okay.

Omaya Jones 6:41
Yeah, I was gonna say like, I remember like some of the promotional material for that. He He’s used this phrase. And I think about all the time where he talks about he says there’s no there’s no eye candy in his film. It’s I protein. Hmm. And so you know, like, he’s like a very visual director and like, everything is contributing to the telling of the story, and some And I think not everybody can do that. Yeah. But but like he really can’t

Andrew Sweatman 7:06
synthesizing the the two in a really good way. I remember hearing about Pacific Rim that when he was writing it, he watched a lot of sports movies, which I thought was so interesting is that it’s because he wanted it to be about teamwork like that, because the two pilots inside of the machines have to work together. And that’s interesting, but that movie has some really amazing visual moments too. And anyway, yeah, I did forget that that one, but I haven’t seen Kronos or either the Hellboy movies. So I have some more. Guillermo del Toro things I need to knock out but I guess I’ve seen those three now. Well, all right. Let’s get on into our discussion of this week’s Movie, which is cemetery of splendor. posse mumble.

Unknown Speaker 7:47
suka Hanuman, Ian Pan hasakah pasado

Unknown Speaker 8:07
Lanka has a castle.

Andrew Sweatman 8:40
Okay, let’s talk about cemetery of splendor. So this is again directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul and he is a Thai director. And he makes these really kind of now having seen two of them, kind of slow meditative films, and this one is similarly mysterious. I would say to Last last times Uncle boonmee, who can recall his past lives, but a bit more straightforward and I definitely connected with it a little easier. Here’s the quote actually go to the rotten tomatoes page, they have these little kind of catch all quotes and they’re just like a little kind of description of generally what people think of this, but I thought this sentence kind of summed it up pretty well. So cemetery of splendor, gracefully, eludes, eludes efforts to pin down its meaning, while offering patient viewers another gently hypnotic wonder from Writer Director Apichatpong Weerasethakul. So I think that puts it well that what is this movie mean that it’s it’s a very open to interpretation, I would say. I think if you say you have the definitive answer on anything that that I might balk at that a little bit because it’s such an open ended mysterious kind of a movie, but it was I find it really moving which I can’t say exactly, but Uncle boonmee I definitely enjoyed it. And I think that I think I found a lot to ponder after the fact. But I didn’t feel super emotional about it while I was watching it, which in this one, I did have some moments that have kind of pathos that I found pretty moving. So here’s kind of generally what it’s about. There’s a hospital, it used to be a school. And then we find out later in the film, that it used to also be a cemetery, or there’s a cemetery beneath it. And the lead character is gingy era who goes by Jen, she works at this hospital, she’s tending to ends up being one soldier in particular, who is there so it’s all the soldiers there and mostly, they’re sleeping almost all the time. They’re sleeping. She’s tending to this soldier, the soldiers name is it ITT, and they form a kind of a mysterious connection, even though he’s asleep for a lot of the movie. So that’s kind of big picture and we’re going to get into more details, but my What is your kind of general impression of this film?

Omaya Jones 10:58
So this this films, kind of For me, it’s one that we screened this last year in June. So I got to see this as part of Arkansas times film series with an audience. And it’s, to me there’s there’s something so nice and comforting about a film that sort of allows you to sort of is relaxing. Hmm, I think when I when I first saw it, I’d seen so there’s been a century and I was just taken by a film that sort of takes its time and allows you to sit with it and sort of take you to this a different part of the world. And then I was also just sort of intrigued thematically even though I didn’t get at the time I don’t think I’m still not sure completely sure about sort of all the layers of depth and meaning and like all the various images, but it just like it just allows itself to be sort of a strange film. I like to sit with it and be in this world for two hours. You know, there are things like like the boats, you know, in between, like the main scenes, the Are these shots of things that are just happening? Yeah, within the confines of this village, whether it’s just this, these chickens that roam around freely, or these people hanging around the lake. And these are sort of turban motor things that are running. Yeah. And there’s all these things that are just part of this world that it builds.

Andrew Sweatman 12:18
Yeah, I was gonna bring up because the turbans and then there’s kind of repeated shots of those and then of ceiling fans just rotating and then also just like fans, I don’t know, floor fans like sitting up on stance moving around, and there’s a lot of really still shots. And so one of the recurring themes of this, I would say sleep sleeping is a big deal. Yes. And I know it’s a big deal for the director as well to in between these two episodes. And you sent me an article about a special installation he did where basically you’re encouraging people to watch the film a super long like 48 hours of footage of some kind that he Put together in you go into a special hotel kind of thing and you’re supposed to watch and sleep and sleep and watch and like that’s the experience and he he’s tailoring the film somehow to a asleep, dreamlike kind of quality to it. And had that in mind. And with that in mind, I thought like, it seems like with this movie, he’s almost daring as to to fall asleep at certain points, like I and I watched it late at night. But I mean, it was like 1130 or something when it was close to the end actually did fall asleep towards the end and I had to rewind and watch the rest. But it is so slow and there’s some of the shots are so drawn out. That it really invites that but sleep is also I want to say more about that. But let’s talk about sleep in within the film. There’s a lot going on with it. So there’s the characters, a lot of the all the soldiers are almost always asleep, even as they begin to wake up here. There, especially with the character that we are following the most as it he will be awake and then just completely out of nowhere in middle of a sentence just falling asleep like narcoleptic kind of feeling. And then there’s also a lot made. So there’s these machines to the which also visually are probably the sort of the symbol of this one if, if an uncle boonmee, we have the, the shrouded figure with the red eyes as kind of the symbol you think of, in this one, it’s going to be these sleeping machines, which they have these poles sticking up over each of the beds, and they, they emit these bright lights, it’s green, it’s blue, it kind of fades different colors. And having them all lined up in a room is really visually pretty stunning. And that’s another recurring kind of visual thing we see. But then the machines what they’re doing, they’re supposed to help the soldiers to have better dreams. And so actually kind of got a sense that dreams are maybe more spiritually important in the culture there than they would be in America. But so that was I was kind of keying into that. And then there’s a scene where there’s like a meditation teacher of some kind or, like clear exactly what his role is. But he leads this group of people on this kind of a meditation practice. But he also has a long spiel about, we think all the time. And when we’re asleep, we think and we call that dreaming, and we can’t stop it. But then he has this meditation about gather the energy in your body. And now imagine it going out into the front yard, imagining it going out into space and expanding over everything, and then I’ll suck it all back into your body. And this can be really healing thing. And I was mysterious, and I was I was really intrigued by that. And it also I don’t know that that like it was almost the way it was presented. You could almost do that as a viewer. So I kind of tried to put myself in that headspace and kind of do this meditation thing. And I don’t know it’s just interesting. Got a movie would go there. So anyway, yes, sleep is is a big deal here. Do you have any other thoughts about the significance of sleep in the film or or to West Africa as a director?

Omaya Jones 16:11
Yeah, well, so one, I think that, that the meditation experts monologue is sort of the closest thing to like an artist statement in the film. When in an interview that I read, he talks about, sort of like after doing the permanent project, he got really interested in sleep. And one of the things he talks about, he talks about is the stages of sleep, and how, according to his research, the sleep cycles run in these 90 minute cycles, and which is about the average length of a feature film. Yeah. And so I have a quote here, I’ll just read it. He says, as I researched sleep, I found that we sleep in intervals, the REM intervals, loop several times a night, each loop is about 90 minutes long. The same running time is averaged feature films so maybe writing Tamil films fulfills our subconscious needs. Therefore enter in a movie theater is done in like an arena dream films hypnotize us and take us to new worlds sleeping in films are like twin realities. And then there’s also some stuff there that I think is a metaphor in terms of like his relationship to his homeland and to Thailand, because he talks about how sort of like sleep is an escape, right? And so we talked a little bit last time about the the turmoil in Thailand, the political turmoil and the censorship. And I reread this interview where he talks about at the time when his films were being censored. That censorship board was under the Ministry of Defense, right? And so he was trying to appeal to the Ministry of Culture about this, to try and get his film shown, as he intended. But he says like sleep is like an escape. It’s a place you can go to, and you hope that the world when you’re sleeping is a better place.

Andrew Sweatman 17:58
Wow. That’s really That’s really beautiful. I love that quote from him about, you know, maybe movies fulfill a subconscious desire of wakeful dreaming. And that’s so exciting. I’m, I feel, it’s just a personal project of mine, I feel that there is some sort of spiritual component to watching a movie. And I still don’t quite understand that. But that kind of gets at that same idea that there’s something that it’s I find them person films, personally moving more than most other art forms, in general. And I think that there are times that I have a spiritual connection to a Fillmore, I have a spiritual experience watching one. And anyway, so that just I love hearing that from someone who is thinking the same things. And someone who’s thought a lot more about it than I have. So that’s really cool.

Omaya Jones 18:49
Yeah. Well, I think that spiritual connect that idea comes up both in the schraeder book on transcendental sound film, and also there’s a Susan Sontag essay about the aesthetics of silence that I think touches on that, that are both sort of trying to get at the idea that in film or in cinema, you can have these spiritual experiences, you know, they can take you places these films can Yeah.

Andrew Sweatman 19:12
Well, that’s kind of a good segue into what I want to talk about next about the film. And that is the spirituality of it is really interesting. So with Uncle boonmee, we talked, I mentioned briefly just kind of, it’s really interesting to to step into another culture and kind of get a sense of, I don’t know, the Zeitgeist kind of around spiritual things and, and religion. And so an uncle boonmee we have the spiritual and the physical realms kind of coexisting in a way that’s really interesting and, and it’s a religious tradition that’s foreign to me. And so it’s fascinating to learn more about it. And so we have like the ghost of his wife shows up, and we have a son who’s a monkey ghost and they just kind of show up and they’re shocked for a moment but then this is just part of what we’re doing now. And then his wife goes also talked about the prayers and sacrifices that they had made kind of on her behalf and, and how Yeah, I heard your prayers, I got the food you sent me and, and that’s like, it’s, I can see how that might be like comforting in a way to a Thai viewer. I don’t know, I don’t want to put words in their mouth. But that’s it just like almost confirming spiritual beliefs through film in a way, like, let’s play this out kind of thing. And so I think we have a similar thing happening in cemetery of splendor. The one scene in particular is Jen goes to a shrine, and she’s praying to these two goddesses. And she puts up these animal tokens, and they kind of represent different things. And then a little bit later in the film, she’s eating lunch, and this young woman approaches her and then this other young woman approaches her and they start having this conversation and then come to find out this is the two goddesses from the shrine, the statues that we had seen. They’re saying, We’re those goddesses we know that animals you gave us we know the prayers you said and We have some information for you and they kind of tell her some information about the hospital so again just bring in a spiritual tradition that I know nothing about but then liberalizing it in a way it’s just really interesting to see and I really liked that scene and it’s it’s kind of a mind my I don’t know just a really shocking revelation when you go there saying the other goddesses wow there’s like a just a new level to what’s going on and also that’s one of the first times in this one that I think like it feeling like it’s grounded in reality gets kind of gets pushed a little bit in that sense. I don’t know it’s an interesting scene.

Omaya Jones 21:37
Yeah. And to me what makes it work is that is not presented as like being this fantastic thing, right? It’s everything is grounded. It’s it’s still very alive and just understated. You know, she’s like during regular

Andrew Sweatman 21:53
little park sitting at a picnic table kind of thing.

Omaya Jones 21:56
Yeah. But then unlike a lot of Western films, where I feel like it’s somebody were to introduce this aspect and do it this way. The idea would be that you question the veracity of what’s happening here. I think you submit to accept that like, no, in this in this world in the world of this film, these things are real. Yeah, like these, they really are princes and people can really read minds and escape into dreams and see the past and things. It’s just a part of the reality.

Andrew Sweatman 22:24
Yeah, yeah. actually imagine like, if Jesus walked into a scene, all of a sudden, characters would freak out. Yeah, that’s like the only kind of parallel I can think of. Yeah, that’s right. Well, speaking of reading minds, I was gonna talk about Kung Fu. She’s a character who is a pretty major part of it, probably the third or second or third and most main character, and she is a medium or psychic of some kind. And so she can communicate through this sleeping soldier. So it seems like the soldier spouse or someone is there and she’ll lay a hand on the soldier and then be able to communicate kind of what They’re talking about. And that’s a really interesting kind of set up. And again, it’s also as you’re saying, like, not seeing is that unusual, at least in the context of the film? And so I think that’s a question I have, too is for a Thai viewer, is this also the system where experience of Oh, wow, they are not finding the strange or in, in their culture would just not be that strange to have the psychic person, you know, I don’t know. I should probably do some research around that. But she ends up being a big part of the, the final sequence of the film, where basically, she almost she kind of embodies it who is falling back asleep. And he, they kind of like go on a date sort of thing. And it’s really interesting scene. It almost made me think of being john malkovich. That’s there’s my john malkovich reference. But in that movie, and I think in other things from from Charlie Kaufman, he seems to be really interested in identity and the kind of identity swapping and So when being john malkovich, there’s like characters can relate better if they’re embodying a different character. Like if, if my soul is in john malkovich, I have a better relationship with my spouse. It’s kind of, kind of, if you’ve ever seen that movie, that sounds really weird, but that’s what it’s about, kind of is kind of identity swapping and body swapping. And so it almost gave me that kind of a sense it made me want to rewatch being john malkovich and rethink some of Charlie Kaufman’s work. Now, having seen this, and I don’t know it’s kind of interesting connection. But But yeah, comes an interesting character. And she does a lot of different things. So you have any, any more thoughts about her?

Omaya Jones 24:37
Yeah, so one is also interesting. Looking at some deleted scenes, there’s that there’s one scene that’s deleted where she initially meets Jen and she reads her mind and that is sort of validates that she has these abilities. Yeah. And I think that maybe initially Jen, maybe it’s more skeptical or not, but in the film as it exists, you know, that’s excised, but it’s still never really questioned. And then that’s one scene that you mentioned towards the end where it has entered her body as she’s he is speaking through her. I think that that scene is kind of what made the film for me initially is just it goes back to something I mentioned last week when we’re talking about Uncle boonmee. But the idea that there are these layers of existence throughout time in this in this singular space right so when it’s in her body and he’s describing the palace that that was once there or the describing think of the graveyards are now below their feet and then you know, in the present day there’s a school there that is now a hospital that in but there’s some construction going on. So assume there will be something else or maybe not because we don’t really know exactly what’s going on with the construction. So all these layers of existence that are happening and depicted on the screen at the same everything sort of coexist. right cuz like even like you know, even though right now they’re they’re in a hospital. Right now they’re in a playground or in a park. It’s experience in his dream world in that same location. Is this other plane of existence with this other structure exists? Yeah, it’s all just simultaneously existing. And I think that’s so interesting.

Andrew Sweatman 26:17
Yeah. That is Rachel. So, yeah, I got a quote that I read last week about like, I guess when William Wordsworth who said that, we can remember heaven when we’re born as babies, we remember heaven. Yeah. So sort of like that idea of, maybe time isn’t as linear as we think. And that it’s, it’s all happening at once. Yeah. And I think that that idea about the building, you know, once was a cemetery, now it’s a school now it’s a hospital, that also ties back into reincarnation and so maybe, you know, for thinking about the relationship between the soul and the body, and Eastern religions in reincarnation is a really common belief in that. Maybe that’s a good way to look at as the same ground but we have a new bill or new use for the building. So maybe it’s the same soul but different bodies. And that’s a really interesting idea. And so that that idea of past lives does come up several times in the film, which so that’s another time back to Uncle boonmee. But I think when we first meet, or early on, Kung tells that her experience when she realized she was a psychic, was when she suddenly recalled a past life when she was young. And that was an interesting so here’s here’s her connection to Uncle boonmee. But then, it also is a big part of so when when Jin meets those goddesses. What they tell her is about the cemetery that was once under the hospital, and that there’s all these kings buried there. Some some ancient kings are buried there, and that the spirits of these kings are still fighting. And then she tells them that the soldiers are sleeping so much because the spirits are helping them fight like the soldiers are helping the the Kingsport And so that’s kind of what it is describing in that final scene when he’s he’s like in the dream world, I guess and explaining what’s going on. But then there’s some really interesting quotes when they were talking about that. So I think it’s Jen, who says, perhaps these soldiers were were their soldiers and their past lives. So like the people who are sleeping in the hospital now, maybe these are the same soldiers who fought for these kings centuries ago, just now and their new lives. And then I think that also Jen says, That explains why when I was a student here in the school before it was a hospital, that explains why I felt so sleepy all the time. So it’s like there’s a, just that presence in this building. I thought that was really interesting. And then there’s also a line that I thought was just kind of oddly comic, she says, I’m happy to know that at least he’s doing some good in his sleep. So it’s like, it seems lazy by our standards, maybe but he’s, he’s actually working really hard and that’s why these guys are also sleepy, because they’re their spirits are fighting with the with the ancient kings. So it’s really an interesting thing and you know, maybe think about so I mean, these men hadn’t when they were born had no idea right that their past lives were soldiers. But almost like that kind of helps determine their destiny a little bit or, or how interesting that that a past life we have no idea about good could suddenly affect us. And so that was kind of the connection of Pan’s Labyrinth to is that she just never felt comfortable understand a little bit and then found out Oh, it’s because I am a princess from long ago, reincarnated. I don’t know it’s an interesting thing. And again, it’s I think it’s just helping me because I have known about the idea of reincarnation but never really understood. Like, why is that such a big deal, but this in those religious traditions, but this film is kind of really helping me to contextualize that and, and see it just baked into a culture and into a story. Yeah, it’s just really interesting.

Omaya Jones 30:02
Yeah, there are a couple things I want to touch on not to draw, but one just like, this is an aside How funny the film is sometimes. Yeah. You know, like, there was something you mentioned, and I chuckled when you said it, but now I can’t remember was happy to know he’s doing some good and asleep. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but then also, you know, there’s the scene where King is reading the mind of one of the sleeping soldiers for a spouse. And she’s sort of asking him, What, What color should I paint the kitchen? And then I heard he was having an affair. Is that true? And that’s, I mean, that’s, it’s funny, you know. And then, I was also just like, taking just how much of this film is about, not about memory, you know? Because like when when Jenna sort of going through this school and saying like, I embrace it over here, and I think she goes to the corner I think it is in the corner where she says she’s to sit and look out the window and think of the teacher right. So like, There’s just all of these things that are playing going on like with with her her sort of memory as her past life as a child, if you want to put it that way. I don’t know if that’s too cute or not, but But yeah, there’s just there’s so much going on in that it’s just layered on top of each other.

Andrew Sweatman 31:15
Yeah. Yeah, she had a quote that I wrote down trying to find out about her something about her memories. I actually talked about a memory floating in her head and in her heart, and I thought that was an interesting way to put that and it kind of gets kind of makes that connection to dreams and memories and dreams as kind of the things in our mental state that we don’t quite understand or they kind of elude us a little bit. And this this film is really concerned with those those parts of our minds is really interesting, I think. As far as like the looking at like the spiritual realm stuff. This movie kind of seems to suggest that you can have like a healthy or an unhealthy relationship with yourself. spiritual world. And so I think we get the opening shot of the, the construction happening. And so I think when we find out the cemetery nearby, or maybe where they’re digging, and so they’re almost desecrating something, and then they’re changing something holy there. And then you also have characters who, at one point were jinn and it are eating in a park. And then a dog approaches them. And Jen is really kind to this dog. And so we I do want some food and all this. And then it is really kind of he’s he’s not cruel, but he says, Get out of here, like, we’re not giving you food. And she she kind of chastises them playfully and like, you should be nicer. I think he says, You’re too kind to the dogs, which also reminded me of in Uncle boonmee, we had the aunt character who part of the knock against her, like, she’s kind of racist. She’s got all these different things. Also, she really doesn’t care about bugs. she kills bugs all the time. And so that’s like a serious knock against her character. And so I think that’s in a similar way it’s saying, so kind of on the lines of that meditation scene, where We’re throwing our energy out into outer space and then drawing it back in. And it’s sort of this interconnectedness of everything, that if you understand that, then you’re gonna be nice to dogs, and you’re gonna be nice to bugs. And so I think that’s an interesting idea that I’ve, I’ve heard, I don’t know, that’s, I think that’s sort of a notion is seen as hippie ish or something in, in Western culture. But, you know, I’ve heard similar things from different Christian writers just coming at it from kind of a different angle. But I like I think that’s maybe that’s a Buddhist idea, actually is do the least harm, even even to bugs. There’s I was wondering about the different shots that are repeated about the ceiling fans and the the, the water turbines. And so a lot of these are circular items. Like we see it like things going in a circle. And so I was like, why is it fixating on this so much? And I think that goes along with you know, if time isn’t linear, maybe time is more circular than we realize or that we often think About and so it’s giving us Anyway, here’s this really still shot on the ceiling fan for like, I don’t know what seems like three minutes. It’s probably like 40 seconds. But some of the shots feel so long. Maybe that’s also just because I was sleepy but we have a lots of different shots of circular motion. I think that that is getting ahead of reincarnation and these things move in cycles. I guess.

Omaya Jones 34:24
It’s weird, because so like, I mean, I’m not religious, but I find the topic is interesting when people who either are were Yeah, makes a piece of art about it. So I think that’s that’s sort of where I get this interest in like Paul Schrader right, who’s Yes, raises very devout. And he sort of moved away from that as he got older. Or Martin Scorsese, right. And yeah, I want to say there’s an interview he gave for us like I’m going to, I’m going to hell or something like that. Like you start. Like, it’s almost just like when you’re raised is a very, very strict religious upbringing. Yeah. Even if you sort of move away from it, it’s still a part of you, you know? Yeah.

Andrew Sweatman 35:05
So internalized. Yeah,

Omaya Jones 35:06
let’s just think is this sort of like that there’s a lot in the I’ve read that intro to the revised edition of transcendental film, there’s a lot about sort of the way the stretching of time can sort of create space for introspection. Yeah. And in the viewer answer is essentially sort of like you know, when you have that shot, like the ceiling fan, that lasts for several seconds longer, maybe I didn’t time it, but it’s on the screen for a long time. Yeah. And it just gives you as the viewer the chance to really think and ask questions like, what is this mean doesn’t mean anything, what is happening and so use of your to make these connections? And then, of course, in a film like this, sort of like what I talked about what blew me when I watched my deleted scenes, is even though initially in the structure, there are very specific things things that are happening in the film, and the final form, they cut those things to give the viewer more space to make their own connections and do their own readings of the film. Right. So they’re not trying it’s not he’s not trying to give you answers. And I, I mean, I also think it’s interesting, just that, from what I’ve gotten from interviews with apichatpong is that he himself isn’t necessarily religious, he might be spiritual, he talks about meditation. But he doesn’t seem to really believe the stuff about ghosts or spirits but it’s sort of part of Thai culture. So we include it in the film and and so I’m not sure sort of where he is himself in the journey. And it also is a surprise because I just a second ago as curious so I was looking something up to find that he’s 50 years old, and I imagined him younger. But yeah, so I mean, all of this stuff, is there’s a lot of different things going on there in the spirituality is an aspect that I would like to pay more conscious attention to.

Andrew Sweatman 36:58
Yeah, yeah. So as we talked about the circular motion and some of the shots and things, I guess we can look at some of the filmmaking just in general. So we have, yeah, as we mentioned, really long, slow shots and a lot of places, it seems like increasingly towards the end of the film, there’s more and more of these and there are, yeah, you mentioned just like shots of people out at the park and that sort of thing. There’s one sequence of it’s like nighttime, and it shows some people sitting by a river and then it shows some people sleeping at a bus stop. And so it’s kind of depicting sleep like there’s the human human aspect of sleep people just sleeping, but then it also that was so like, peaceful to me for some reason. It really was loading me into it to not go to sleep. But yeah, did you

Omaya Jones 37:45
notice at the bus stop that the light, like the color, the light almost so the lights from? Oh, no, I didn’t think sleep hospital. Were on in some capacity because the color was changing, right at the bus stop. And so it’s almost as So they were emanating from out from the hospital over the whole town, which I, I don’t I think I noticed for the first time when I was read watch it earlier today. And and I also wondered, you know, if the people that is depicting or homeless, which is why, you know, they’re sleeping in parks or a bus stop. Yeah. And to what extent this is sort of like a point of political commentary, right? Because the film itself is not explicitly political. It’s subtle. But I do think that there’s some, there’s, there’s some truth in there, right. Like there’s there’s, because there’s something going on.

Andrew Sweatman 38:35
Yeah, on that note, so I I tried to key into that a little bit after watching Uncle boonmee and seeing some of the more explicitly political things there I think. But there’s, there’s some different just connection to the outside world. talk like this with Jen’s husband. This is her second husband, I think he’s American, and we only see him for like a minute. But there’s kind of some mentions of America and I think some other countries too, and At one point when they are setting up the sleep machines, someone says, Well, these were used by American soldiers. So you know, they must be good. That was an interesting kind of gana Stan. Yeah, in Afghanistan LS Yeah. So then we have also just some interesting moments of capitalistic kind of things to so. So there’s the meditation scene, which I would not say, I’m not saying this about it, but there’s sort of a parallel scene that where someone’s selling some hand cream or something like that in the park. It’s almost like an infomercial. It just feels incredibly capitalistic. And then I think it’s when Jen is talking to it about why she’s he’s kind of asking her Why would you want to marry an American man and kind of poking fun on her for it? She says, You know what, I really wish maybe this is a different conversation at some point. She says, I wish I had an American man or Europeans have no she’s not a European man, Europeans. about the money. And then the funny line was Europeans are living the American dream. That’s funny way to put that. But first some kind of gentle poking at kind of capitalistic ideas a little bit. But then yeah, so the the soldiers themselves, you know, as I was thinking are these gonna be as you’re going to make some kind of comment about the wars not just that they were fighting in or anything like that, I don’t think we really get that and in fact, if they’re connected he’s kind of drawing a connection to the ancient kings that had soldiers fighting and almost seeing it as a noble thing almost it’s kind of how I took it, but I don’t know if I’m misreading that possibly. But we have the, the soldiers were an interesting part of that the fact that they’re soldiers is kind of interesting. And so there’s like a PTSD element almost that they, you almost expect that kind of suffering from a soldier but then maybe there’s something deeper and then it’s in the dream world and that they’re actually fighting for something Sort of honorable cars.

Omaya Jones 41:01
Yeah. You know, in with Uncle boonmee there’s the reference to the killing of communist. In this film, there’s soldiers we’re not sure. There’s never stated explicitly Yeah, what war if any, yeah, they’re fighting enter if they you know, but then there there is when they’re doing the tour towards the end, we see a bomb shelter. And there are these statues are sculptures of people hiding in the bomb shelter. And so one of the things that I found is that a lot of what happens are a lot of gin character is taken from the actress. She so she is sort of worked as a collaborator with the pitcher Pong for 10 or 15 years. And this project was initiated, I guess, in the pre scripting stage when I’m asking her to sort of write a journal or a diary about her thoughts and things and then so he incorporated a lot of that and a lot of his own background into it because this is his first film that’s actually made that he made in his hometown, where you know, where he grew up or his parents were doctors. And a lot of that is incorporated into the film. And so like the bomb, the bunker is sort of this is a reference to a childhood memory of Jin Pura punk Boss, I think is how you pronounce her name, even though I think she has an married name now. But she described when she was four or eight or nine. There is some conflict going on. People attacked the village, they went to the bomb shelter, they hit in there until the shooting stopped and they came out and they saw that people had been shot they didn’t see says that they weren’t sure if it was the Vietnamese or the communists or he was shooting the shooting, but sort of is drawn from this traumatic experience for her life. And so I think there are woven throughout the films are those those kinds of things, experiences that they had And then there are also there are, there are scenes with military figures that are cut out. And one of them another character is, is there’s that there’s a man in a military uniform with this button up shirt open, exposing his bare chest. And he’s sort of combing the hair around his nipples before using scissors to cut the hair. And that was cut from the scene. And I don’t know if it’s because it was too explicit or because he was wearing a military uniform, or if it just didn’t fit with the tone and the pace of the film. But there are a couple of scenes with that character that are cut and I wonder if it’s short to exploit our accident to avoid explicit. Yeah, military iconography or illusions.

Andrew Sweatman 43:48
Hmm, that’s very interesting. I’ll kind of only semi related but you mentioned last week the we talked about the prince and how he’s a big deal. There’s a picture of him at one point seen in like, their cafeteria. So I noticed that as well, but it doesn’t really seem to comment on it, but it’s just there. That’s kind of interesting. I did have a question. So there’s so they that that kind of final scene, they kind of walk around this park. There’s other statues they look at, but there’s one one shot there. I think it comes up twice, almost like earlier in the film, we see it and then we see it from a different angle of all these people coming and sitting by the river, but then they start just doing almost this dance of like Trading Places where they’re sitting and moving in very, like, robotic, not, not natural ways. I had no idea what to make of that. Do you have any thoughts about do the scene I’m talking about?

Omaya Jones 44:42
Yeah, yeah, um, I don’t know what that’s about. It is interesting film are an interesting scene. Every time I watch the film, I sort of forget that it’s in there but you know, there’s several pitches and then people are sitting on them and then someone will come and sit on an open one and then someone else will get up. Walk to another one. And it’s almost like musical chairs. Yeah, there’s no there’s no there’s no.

Andrew Sweatman 45:06
There’s no music music or anything going it feels like a musical suddenly like, yeah, choreographed this thing pretty tightly. Yeah.

Omaya Jones 45:13
And then I think like it kind of comes up again, in a shorter scene. I think we see that same area from a different angle. Yeah, people are city that kind of starts to happen again, but we don’t stay with it as long. But yeah, is kind of flexing. I’m not sure.

Andrew Sweatman 45:30
I mean, the only thing I could think is it kind of shows several people within the confines of a shot and they’re kind of moving around. And I was like, he’s just sort of like, depicting people walking through life and maybe Trading Places and like their their souls are going to different places or something. That seems like a stretch and I don’t really know that I’m trying to think if there’s any connection to the other things in the film, is that possibly it? But I don’t know. So if anyone has any thoughts on that, listen, please email Andrew at Arno’s garage calm and let me know because I’m confused by it. But it’s it’s really interesting shot and it’s almost like fun to watch for a second because you’re like, Oh, well they’re like being really intense about this. Yeah. One other, just filmmaking touch I wanted to talk about was the lighting of it. So there’s a few moments in Uncle boonmee that I thought had him really just kind of striking lighting. Usually that was like a single light source in the darkness kind of thing. And it’s similar in this where he mentioned the sleeping machines and that’s, that is the the image that comes back again and again, and they’re kind of like, it feels when you’re in the room and it’s dark, and all those are on, it does feel almost dreamlike or otherworldly or something. So I think that’s probably what he’s getting at with that. Even though the machines themselves are kind of mysterious, or they like, maybe it’s just a way to like, give a physical depiction of sleeping and dreaming because they seem like I think the lights are only on when they’re asleep. But anyway, all that to say the lighting is really striking in this and I. I took note of that.

Omaya Jones 47:09
There’s a Yeah, good, was it? It’s not about those lights in particular, but there’s a shot after they’ve gone to the movies, yeah, Jen is going she’s gone back to the hospital school to a room that’s been abandoned. And you just see this one beam of light, so presumably a flashlight as she’s looking for the light to turn on. And you see this old school building in rubble with some sort of like propaganda poster, or sign that’s on the on the ground, but I remember just the lighting in that. And also apparently, the lamps themselves give off some sort of heat because I think it references that when he’s asleep, he can feel the glow or the warmth of the lights. Interesting.

Andrew Sweatman 47:49
I just thought of speaking of like the shots of circular things that we talked about earlier, I just remembered towards the end, I’m trying to remember exactly what it is but there’s there’s the shots I think it’s, it’s when they’re leaving the movie theater, and they have to go down an escalator. But then in this mall that they’re in, and then that camera kind of moves to where you can see it a bunch of escalators all in one shot of this really tall like shopping mall. And then it stays on that for a long time. And then it sort of fades so slowly that into another shot that it almost superimposed with them for a long time. And it’s the I think it’s the construction shot. There’s the escalators superimposed over another shot. Yeah. And it holds that for a long time into the escalators. I think maybe that gets back to that same idea of circular motion that things are always moving and that whether that’s our souls being reincarnated or a building being re used or just how everything is connected, it’s kind of showing that continual motion because it’s a really it’s a shot is really still but there’s a lot of motion within the shot.

Omaya Jones 48:58
But yeah, I think Camera only moves once in the whole film. Yeah, and it’s towards the very end, you know, every like every shot is static. Yeah. There’s also there’s no music except for the street music at the very end.

Andrew Sweatman 49:16
Yeah, that there’s like a dance at the end. And then the music kind of carries on, which is very similar to the ending of Uncle boonmee. The way the music, the diegetic music kind of went on into the credits sort of and maybe it wasn’t just diegetic at the end. Yeah, that’s really interesting. The only other thing I really wanted to say about this movie is kind of on on the way it was kind of moving was really that final scene where she is. Jen is with she’s with it, but it is in the body of Kung and they are like, honestly, yeah, they’re kind of on this date, walking through the park looking at the statues. And it really gets just so so oddly romantic. That get really was kind of sweet like that. There’s moment when they look at a statue of two like lovers holding hands and then it’s almost like a visual joke but then it’s shocking because they look at the statue for a long time like oh how nice and then the camera I think this is the one time the camera moves maybe so we see this the statue of the lovers and then I maybe just cuts but I think it might move over pans over and then you suddenly see that there’s another identical statue except their skeletons these two skeletons holding hands sitting on a bench and that in the context of this movie thinking about I don’t know life and death and reincarnation and all the circular motions that seeing that same two skeletons holding hands was weirdly really sweet and it kind of kind of got at just the connections people can have Mitch this crazy world and and who even knows what’s going on in the spiritual world right and and it seems like the And it have have what seems like a romantic connection. That’s does that was my feeling about it. I don’t think it’s ever really explicit, but there seems to be some flirting. And then in that end date scene, even though it is in a different body, they have this connection and kind of the way that scene ends. I don’t know it’d be a spoiler Exactly. I won’t say exactly what happens. But Jen has had this leg injury, the entire film, and then basically, King whose body by it does something to kind of, sort of help heal that. And it’s pretty Central, I would say. So I want to see Do you agree with that reading? I really felt like this is kind of romantic in its own weird way. Yeah. What did you think about that?

Omaya Jones 51:46
Yeah, I think, you know, I’m not sure that I ever read it as romantic. It is central and like their relationship Is is interesting in that I think it’s not familial. It’s not strictly platonic, but I don’t think of it as being romantic. But I could be wrong. I don’t know. Maybe watch it a fourth time.

Andrew Sweatman 52:13
I may be way off base. But that was my, my feeling with it. Yeah.

Omaya Jones 52:18
But the thing is, like to me like that scene is it’s more tender. Yeah, it’s sweet. And it’s and, and this idea of like, trying to heal her. Yeah. Or at least cause her some comfort. Of course, I think that’s the first time in a film. I can’t remember. an uncle Bumi we actually see her leg but, you know, the actress. She does have a pronounced limp. And as for my motorcycle accident that she had in 2004 I think she fell off her motorcycle in the rain.

Andrew Sweatman 52:50
Well, I didn’t know that. So that’s a real injury we were seeing.

Omaya Jones 52:52
Yes. Uh huh. I mean, she also because he also has that limp and Uncle boonmee. And so So she she, you know, I think she is scheduled to have some sort of surgery because there is a, like a corrective surgery she mentioned in the film to the current of surgery that she can have. Wow. That’s quite expensive. But she might be able to afford it now that she’s started several films that so anything

Andrew Sweatman 53:18
that adds another layer of like personal vulnerability to that scene then to that knowing that that’s really her leg injury that we saw there. Yeah, that’s really, really interesting.

Omaya Jones 53:29
Yeah, I know. She said that when they film that she thought that that scene while we’re not trying to split but she she thought she thought she says she felt sad and touch at the same time, you know, and because it does require a level of vulnerability to shoot that

Andrew Sweatman 53:42
yeah, it’s another one of those long drawn out shots to seem like it went on for for quite a while. And then from there to the end of the movie is I don’t know maybe like 10 minutes, but there’s only like two or three shots I think in that whole thing. Some really long shots of people dancing in the park and then so that that really Feels like that’s the end of the movie more or less. I think there’s a little bit more conversation with him in the hospital to actually remembered. But yeah, that’s sort of the climate, there’s that go ahead.

Omaya Jones 54:11
Well, is that they also had that conversation where I forget exactly how she says it. But she says that she wants to see she’s want to be asleep or something like that. And then it through King’s body says that you just have to open your eyes like this real wide like this. And that’s also how the film ends. That’s right, that’s wrong with her sit in the park bench with their eyes open as wide as they can be watching the children play over this construction area. That is also a cemetery that is going to be something else, you know, they’re all these again, this is the layers of time.

Andrew Sweatman 54:41
Yeah, like life and death and new life with these children. And yes, seeing all of that at once. And like maybe the circular motion of that. Yeah. Wow. That is really interesting. I wanted to mention a couple other just kind of cannon comparisons or connections to Uncle boonmee. And so you mentioned last time that Apichatpong likes to really connect as his filmography, even to so far as having like the same actor play while that same the same character seemingly in two different movies or just slightly different names. You mentioned, one of the characters. There were some things here that felt very familiar. Actually, the first shot we see of the bed of the soldier laying in a bed in the corner of that room looks just like uncle boonies bed, which we spent so much time with, with his dialysis machine and all of that. I don’t know if that’s just what tie beds look like. But it seemed like the set was very similar. Similarly, dressed and all of that. So that was one, one point of connection. But then. Yeah, and then all the talk of past lives, of course, which we I think we’ve probably covered that pretty well. But then, as I kind of mentioned before, at the beginning, I did feel that this was a little bit more accessible, and a little bit more straightforward. less abstract, I think is the word you used that Uncle boonmee And I think that visually it was somehow easier to connect as well. And I think that’s probably because I think this was shot on digital. Whereas Kobo and me was shot on film. And there’s just something that feels more modern about it and it’s probably on me that’s my bad that I more modern film feels easier to, to connect with. But and that’s probably not uncommon either. But yeah, I believe this. Can you confirm or deny that this was shot on digital?

Omaya Jones 56:30
I’m gonna say that it was because I remember reading a quote or how originally he liked the idea. He’s not committed to one format or the other. But he realized that there was no reason to hold on to film. Yeah. And I think in like in the quote, he says something like, for a young kid hasn’t that has no experience, it doesn’t mean anything. And so you know, it’s all sentimental, and so there’s no need to hold on to it. interest and so pretty sure this is shot digitally.

Andrew Sweatman 57:06
I remember seeing that uncle Bumi was one just generally there’s not a lot of movies shot on film anymore and that was like a significant thing about it that it was and I think it did give it kind of an old school feeling in some ways especially like thinking about the princess scene that was you know, set what centuries ago probably something about that adds like a level of feeling of authenticity or something to it. Right yet it almost was made in 2010 feels like it could have been made in the 70s or something because of its its look a little bit but yeah, this one felt more modern and, and we’re in a more of a bustling area. Like it doesn’t seem like a huge city, but there’s just a lot more just people in this one. And so I think something about that. A little bit more easy to grasp onto so all that to say if you watched Uncle boonmee and you thought, I never want to watch another movie by this guy. Maybe give this on a track because you might find more to connect with it. I definitely did. Although, I definitely want to revisit Uncle boonmee having seen this I don’t know if it’s just having some context for Apichatpong’s style. But this second film from him, I definitely connected with it more and really had a enjoyable experience with it.

Omaya Jones 58:28
I would say actually start with this one.

Andrew Sweatman 58:30
Yeah. Which seems counterintuitive maybe but yeah,

Omaya Jones 58:32
I think the the first one that I saw was centered in a century did I solve this and then uncle boo me. I do in the first time Welcome. Lumi also left me cold and I’m still not as warm to it as I am to this film. But if you know for some reason, Uncle boonmee is the one if you’re on Twitter, that kind of comes up the most Yeah, especially in meme formats. There’s one person I follow a particular that loves to me. The film

Andrew Sweatman 59:03
and it one more awards to write things like it when the PR

Omaya Jones 59:06
and all that Yeah, but this one, you know, I think he said this is his most personal film because it is shot in its own town. And it depicts sort of like the, the core aspects of his growing up. So, you know, his parents were in the hospital, so that was like his home, the cinema actually have a quote here. Yeah, and the school, you know, the three places where, you know, he spent the most time the cinema in the hospital in the school. And so much of that is woven into the fabric of the film, as and it’s also like, to me just want a wonderful piece of pure collaboration because so much so much of it is made up of both aspects of his life and his memory in this place. And JIRA is from a not from the same town but from very close by. And so they have these sort of similar experiences growing up, and then also the language so It’s in a dialect specific to this particular province. So like it’s even within Thailand that there are subtitles, because it’s saying that the language is different enough that people from Bangkok may not necessarily understand the language.

Andrew Sweatman 1:00:19
There’s a little conversation about dialect at some point to that kind of keys into that. But yeah, go ahead. Go ahead.

Omaya Jones 1:00:24
Well, I just I just love that. Like, it’s almost like a foreign film within a foreign film.

Andrew Sweatman 1:00:29
Yeah. Wow. That’s interesting. Yeah. I don’t think there’s really an American equivalent to that. I mean, maybe in like England, there would be like, just in a Western context, because there’s so many different dialects or different areas there. So I studied abroad in Liverpool. And the Liverpool accent is widely regarded as like almost unintelligible it took a long time before I could really understand people speaking English to me. But yeah, and then actually I spent time in China and it’s similar there. I spent a year teaching there. I mentioned last time because then I went to Thailand for a few weeks, where there’s that dialect are so far ranging, that you would literally need subtitles in the way you’re talking about with different things in different areas. But yeah, that’s really interesting is that they have a conversation about dialects and he tries to speak in her dialect, I think, at one point. So there’s kind of a connection there. She speaks English for just a second, actually two, which was surprising. I had the subtitles turned on. So I was just reading along and then I was like, Wait, is that what she said? That I just understand? That’s kind of a funny experience. I guess she’s talking to her American husband for a moment there. Yeah.

Omaya Jones 1:01:39
That sounds funny, too. Yeah, that’s really odd. Well, it’s funny because because she says something like, you know, I told you about him. He’s, he fights for his country, he would understand and he’s like, he’s very big. I get it. He’s patriotic. And, yeah, that scene I think is also very funny. Yeah, it’s an appointment. Sweet.

Andrew Sweatman 1:01:56
Yeah. He seems like a nice guy and we see him dancing and Park for a moment, kind of out of place, but seemingly knowing quite a bit about the culture and if he’s praying in a shy shrine and all of that, but that mean, that’s an important scene because that’s what the Goddess has been. Point back to. And they meet her. So, yeah, it’s an interesting and interesting little moment there. But do you have any other kind of Final thoughts for you a wrap up? I think it’s been a really fruitful discussion.

Omaya Jones 1:02:22
I’m just gonna say that people should watch watch this film, watch all of his films and that you can get your hands on as much as it’s okay to fall asleep. Yeah, that’s Yes, it is okay to fall asleep. If you feel the need.

Andrew Sweatman 1:02:36
Yeah, that’s it. He’s the one filmmaker I’ve ever heard of. That’s the kind of almost wants you to on some level. Yeah, so as I mentioned, I did fall asleep in front of the end. I usually don’t stay up quite so late watching movies was like, I’m gonna, I’m gonna finish this out. And I fell asleep in that. So I then I end up rewinding, and kind of rewatching the ending part. So I don’t I don’t know if this was the magic of the film. But I slept really hard. I went to bed right after that and had a lot of dreams to actually do which I don’t always sound you write them down maybe there’s something I didn’t. I’m trying to I can vaguely remember now I did have some really vivid dreams just a couple days after watching Uncle boonmee to actually that I did write down. Maybe there’s something to this maybe if you want to like, start dream journaling, maybe this is the way to do it. Watch. We were sad to go films and then you’ll start having vivid dreams. They weren’t like lucid dreams or anything, but just more dreams than I usually have. Well, we can wrap it up there. Thank you so much for joining me again. And I’m excited for next time when we are going to look at Bong Joon ho and the host, which is one I’ve not seen and I’m excited to see a little change of pace moving from a Thai director to a Korean director. And I think a lot of people listening probably seen parasite because it was such a big deal last year and it’s so great. I am excited to, to look back in time a little bit at boundary knows past work. So watch the host if you can get your hands on it, of speaking out really quickly streaming if you wanted to try to stream either of the films we’ve talked about so far Uncle boonmee is on the criterion channel and a few other places. And then cemetery of splendor I initially had trouble finding, I ended up streaming it through Amazon. So I mean, if you’re looking for it right at this moment, and hopefully we’ll stay there for some months, but it’s through Amazon through one of their channels, the strand releasing channel, which I think it’s five bucks a month, or you can do a free week. So I did my free week, and I’m gonna try to watch a few more things on it. But this one is streaming there. It’s also you can get it from the library. I also got the disc from the library. So I always want to plug local libraries when I can because I can get almost anything for the library. It’s great. So as far as the host is concerned, I think it is actually through hoopla which is one of those library streaming services and you can also rent it online. But yeah, have a look at that and we will discuss that next time. If you want to support our house garage, you can leave a rating or review on iTunes or whatever podcast platform you are using and you can keep up with art house garage on social media. We are at our house garage, almost everywhere Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and letterbox and you can also find video reviews on YouTube and reviews and event coverage on the blog at art house garage comm you can email me at Andrew at art house garage COMM And you can subscribe to the monthly email newsletter at arthaus Garage comm slash subscribe And that will do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening and until next time, keep it snop free

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Andrew Sweatman

Andrew Sweatman

Andrew is a writer, podcaster, and film lover who wants to help people think critically about movies. He lives in central Arkansas with his wife Allison and two children, Rosie & Beau. Andrew is the Senior Editor at Arthouse Garage and a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA). Find him at ArthouseGarage.com and on Twitter and Instagram: @ArthouseGarage.

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