Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s TROPICAL MALADY was both booed and celebrated at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival
TROPICAL MALADY (SUD PRALAD) (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004)
IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave. at West Third St.
Monday, February 29, 4:35, and Wednesday, March 2, 12 noon & 7:00
Series runs February 29 – March 10
212-924-7771
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Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul won the Jury Prize at Cannes for Tropical Malady, a beautiful, mystical work that will thoroughly engage you — if you allow it to. Part tender love story between a country boy (Banlop Lomnoi) and a soldier (Dakda Kaewbuadee), part folktale set in the deep forests of Thailand, Tropical Malady is a like a visual poem in which details are not as important as the overall effect, which is intoxicating. The unorthodox film features ghosts, a shape-shifter, unusual characters, and a playful sense of humor that come together to form a subtle meditation on life and love. Weerasethakul once again displays the gentle, captivating narrative technique that lies at the heart of his oeuvre, which also includes such works as Blissfully Yours, Syndromes and a Century, and 2010 Palme d’Or winner Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Own Lives. Some people at Cannes walked out on Tropical Malady and others stuck around to boo it; Quentin Tarantino headed the group that awarded it the Jury Prize regardless. You can decide to cheer or boo, or merely just experience, it when it screens on February 29 and March 2 as part of the IFC Center series “Mysterious Splendors: The Films of Apichatpong Weerasethakul,” which runs February 29 through March 10 and consists of Weerasethakul’s previously mentioned works as well as his 2000 debut, Mysterious Object at Noon, and his newest films, Mekong Hotel and Cemetery of Splendor.