SYNDROMES AND A CENTURY: INTRODUCTION TO APITCHAPONG WEERASETHAKUL

by Prof Adam Knee, Head of Broadcast and Cinema Studies, WKWSCI, NTU

Apichatpong Weerasethakul is at the moment probably the most globally known Thai filmmaker, especially in the wake of his 2010 win of the Palme D’Or at Cannes for his feature film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives.  This is a bit of a paradox, however, since he is on multiple levels an outsider to the Thai commercial and art filmmaking establishments.  
For example, most of those associated with the new Thai cinema, which has developed since the late 1990s, are based in Bangkok and many got their training from (and continue to work for) the highly successful Thai television advertising industry.  

In contrast, Apichatpong grew up in more rural northeast Thailand and continues to base himself in the smaller northern city of Chiang Mai. He received his film training at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His highly experimental film and video shorts, features, and installation pieces, moreover, did not initially have much of an audience in Thailand and started to develop their reputation, rather, among international aficionados of art cinema.

Apichatpong’s first feature, Mysterious Object at Noon (2000), drew attention for its unique semi-documentary story-telling approach in which various Thai interviewees relate different parts of a fantastical story, while Blissfully Yours (2002) and Tropical Malady (2004) both won awards at Cannes for their mysterious, deliberately paced meditations on Thailand’s rural environment.

It is perhaps emblematic of Apichatpong’s outsider status that his film Syndromes and a Century (2006), while arguably his most accessible feature to date, drew objections from Thai film censors, for scenes perceived as irreverent in their attitude towards Buddhist monks and medical professionals.

Rather than accept requested cuts, Apichatpong cancelled the film’s initial release in Thailand—and went on to help form the Free Thai Cinema Movement against censorship with other Thai activists, intellectuals, and cineastes.