Cemetery of Splendor

Director: apichatpong weerasethakul
Screenwriters: apichatpong weerasethakul

Institute History

  • 2016 Sundance Film Festival

Description

Thailand's enigmatic surrealist master Apichatpong Weerasethakul's previous feature, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, was the winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010. His latest film is a haunting, supernatural dreamscape of cinematic wonder that premiered in the Cannes Un Certain Regard section and hypnotized audiences at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Faced with a group of comatose soldiers afflicted with a bizarre illness, volunteer nurse Jenjira enlists the help of a young clairvoyant who uses her psychic powers to enable the dormant men’s loved ones to communicate with them. Attached to glowing machines, it is discovered that they are waging war within their slumber on behalf of a bygone royalty, connected in their dream state to an ancient gravesite that lies beneath the makeshift clinic. A profound bond is formed between Jenjira and a handsome soldier named Itt, leading to a deeper awareness of her own self and the magical world that engulfs her reality.

— Adam Montgomery

Screening Details

Credits

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