Thursday, May 3 | 5:30 pm
An experimental hybrid of documentary and fiction, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s debut feature derives its structure from the Surrealist “exquisite corpse” game. Traveling through the Thai countryside, Apichatpong and his crew interview local residents and ask them to contribute elements to a collective story about a disabled boy and his nurse. With each new encounter, the narrative evolves and changes, absorbing melodramatic and supernatural elements rooted in Thai soap operas and folklore. Filmed on 16mm over the course of two years, Mysterious Object at Noon already bears the rigorous attention to sound design and architectural space that would characterize the director’s later film and video work. An indelible blend of avant-garde form and popular iconography, Mysterious Object at Noon marks the beginning of Apichatpong’s career-long fascination with the complexities and contradictions of contemporary Thai culture, and the richly expressive potential of the cinematic medium.
Director Apichatpong Weerasethakul | 2000 | In Thai with English subtitles | 89 minutes | NR | Blu-ray
