Surreal Thai film wins Cannes gold for Asia

A surreal tale of the afterlife with giant monkeys and an erotic catfish scored gold for Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul at the Cannes film festival Sunday, in a rare win for Asia.

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives took Cannes’ top award, the Palme d’Or, at the prizegiving which also saw Spaniard Javier Bardem and France’s Juliette Binoche add Cannes acting awards to their Oscars.

It was only the sixth Asian film to win the top prize at Cannes in seven decades of the festival, and the first for more than 10 years. Five Asian entries competed for the Palme this year. Against rival entries about war, history, politics and realist family sagas, Apichatpong’s film is a dreamy, timeless tale.

The 39-year-old director said the award came at an important moment for Thailand.

“I’d like to send a message home: the prize is for you,” he said as he received the Palme from the head of the festival jury, US film-maker Tim Burton, who is likewise known for his fantastical storylines.

Bardem, who plays a good-hearted terminally-ill hustler in Biutiful by Mexico’s Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, shared the best actor award with Italy’s Elio Germano, star of gritty social drama Our Life. Apichatpong was an unexpected winner after critics tipped French director Xavier Beauvois, who took the runner-up Grand Prix for Of Gods and Men, about Catholic monks threatened by Islamists in Algeria.

“This is like another world for me... this is surreal,” the director said, thanking “the spirits and ghosts in Thailand” that watched over the film which he said took three and a half years to make.

AFP