Memoria * * *

There is something about this film that persuades me to give it the benefit of the doubt, not least being the opinion of greater minds than mine.  

Apitchatpong Weerasethakul is a celebrated Thai filmmaker.  He invites people to call him "Joe" (I think I will).  I'm buggered if I know how Joe gets his films paid for.  This sure ain't your popcorn and multiplex material.  

However, at film festivals around the world he is adored and admired by critics who give him standing ovations and write reviews full of superlatives. Indeed, when I saw this film there was some wanker who stood and clapped at the end, urging us to do likewise. Not happening!  Besides, I think half the audience of ten people was asleep.

"Slow Cinema' is a term often used to describe films like this. People talk slow, scenes are long, often  wordless, establishing shots can be up on the screen for minutes before anything happens.  But Memoria is so slow there were a few scenes where I was wondering if the projector had stalled.

Tilda in a questionably sound film.

Yet it has to be acknowledged there are some truly memorable (pun intended) scenes in this film: visually gorgeous, mysterious, and suspenseful.  Beautiful lighting and the main protagonists weary face and body creates an almost supernatural atmosphere, and for this I give Memoria many stars. 

For the suspicions it created in my mind, I take some away.  

At times I felt it had the profundity of a silly statement in a glossy advertisement, you know like "Style is an attitude" or "Tomorrow is today" or some shit like that.  There were more than a few scenes where I could not help but wonder: "What's the point?! Why is this even included?"  Especially one scene that simply seemed to exist to promote a musical group. 

Outside of the script, the most mysterious part of this film is this: Why has a Thai film maker decided to make a film set in Colombia featuring a Scottish woman with everyone speaking English and Spanish?  Esoteric indeed.

The Scottish woman, Jessica, is played by Tilda Swinton (of course!), but in fairness Tilda is always good and she has a heck of a screen presence.  Jessica is staying in Bogota. One morning she wakes up to a loud bang.  It's a promising beginning for the audience.  She hears it a few more times, as the story progresses. 

The story is loosely defined but we learn that Jessica is some kind of  flower merchant.  She is visiting her ailing sister in Colombia. Through visiting her sister she gets to meet an archeologist and that leads to another area Jessica wants to explore.

She is also receiving advice as to where this sound is coming from - and it's not the obvious places. There is no construction happening nearby.

Troubled by the sound she hears Jessica visits a sound engineer and askes him to recreate it to see if she can pin it down  He does well. She goes back to see him again to explore it further, but he has disappeared.  No one at the studio has even heard of him. She begins to wonder about her sanity.  

Jessica goes into the countryside where a major engineering project is taking place: the excavation has revealed the bones of ancient people.

Walking away from it all she goes to the Doctor and explains the anxiety she is feeling.  Is the sound related?  The Doctor gives Jessica a pamphlet on the love of Jesus.

Still in the country Jessica meets a simple fisherman who lives by a stream. Coincidentally he has the same name as the missing sound engineer, Hernan.  He is full of mystery and makes strange proclamations, not least being that he never forgets anything. Consequently he has always lived in and around his small house. He never goes anywhere or takes in any media, the memory is all too much to bear. Further, when she touches him Jessica finds she can read his memory.  Regrettably the crude analogy Hernan gives to explain this strips away any beauty in the phenomena and totally undermines him as a character: but that's not the only self-destructive moment.

Sadly Memoria craps in it's own nest when the source of the sound is revealed. It spoils itself more effectively than any disparaging comments I could make.  I was in awe of the utter stupidity and laziness of the explanation and to be honest I felt somewhat condescended to, like hearing vacuous words from a cynical Buddhist Monk to appease a Farang.