Weerasethakul’s background in shorts works combining vastly different segments here
Greens all over the place—the first third of the film is at a clinic which is largely sterile and white but there is green painting. Then we have the second third which is the long car ride with the outdoor vistas, and then we have the sea of green jungle final third
Long sequences in the car- neorealism? Transformation from tame/city to wild/rural jungle
Weerasethakul obsessed with clinics and health- the opening is so banal- intentionally ugly?
There’s a spirituality- animal traits- in the skin like a snake- de-evolution- Zoomorphism
Credits and pop song 43 minutes in- wild- the break from civilization to country
Voice over 47 minutes for the first time
Free of influence largely—having said that- I couldn’t help but think of Renoir’s A Day in the Country with the Eden-like final third and also Weerasethakul uses the Terrence Malick shot of shooting the sun from the ground through the trees 4 times
Weerasethakul super imposes a picture (I think meant to come from a character’s drawing) fright in the moving frame- haven’t seen that. Instinctual.
Sexuality and jungle ambient noise
Slow cinema- he’s certainly asking the viewer to do a lot of the heavy lifting- he’s the opposite of Nolan- not a lot of structure- lots of ambiguity
Fads out in the middle of a voice over letter from back home which is strange
Lots of stalking through the jungle- normal medium shot and cuts
Are the two women (older and young) the same person? Is this a memory? Are they there to show juxtaposition in love? They do talk to each other but this is not a film/auteur where you worry about there being a definitive answer— are the two women mirrors- there is a sequence of them at the end where they are shot parallel laying down in a medium long shot- one alone crying, one in love
Rhythmic, poetic, confident
This is overused by critics but it’s a true mood piece
Like Tropical Malady (his subsequent film) we have animal characteristics in a character in a love story—his skin is shedding. “you’re like a snake shedding skin”
15 minute opening is awful- arguing over pills and prescriptions. I think it’s meant by Weerasethakul to be ugly and city-urban-bound. Caged. It’s a rouse and set up even 25 minutes in as they drive out of the city. Even at 43 minutes we have the Greens in a pop song- two lovers—I think it means all the rest before this is bullshit and we’re escaping—sea of green jungle
The umbrella shot coming through the trees that are shaping the frame is a stunner- precedes the best shot of Pan’s Labyrinth– there’s lighting in the background and shadows in foreground
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