Quote:
When it comes to impenetrable arthouse fare, Thai indie auteur Apichatpong Weerasethakul is widely regarded as something of a master. Two years ago, he arrived in London triumphantly with his Palme d’Or for the majestic Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010) and has returned this year with the not-quite-feature-length oddity, Mekong Hotel (2012), which rightly features in the LFF’s ‘Experimenta’ stream. Weerasethakul’s latest lingers instead on a series of moments all taking place around the titular hostelry sat on the bank of the enormous river which separates Thailand from Laos.

As an acoustic guitar plays a continuous refrain, a young couple seem to meet for the first time before the supernatural takes a hold of proceedings. After their initial introduction as to the cause of a dog’s death, it becomes apparent that the hotel is in fact home to ghosts. Mekong Hotel does suffer from a slightly disjointed opening, in which we seem to see Weerasethakul himself auditioning the guitarist who provides the film’s soundtrack. However, it quickly settles into the filmmaker’s trademark languorous rhythm as we hear ruminations on rebirth and on the pain of death, interspersed with some startling moments in which the hungry ghosts feed and nice injections of humour.

The film touches, once again, on the themes that have preoccupied the director throughout his previous films; death, spirits, reincarnation, memory, tradition. Best enjoyed by just allowing the directors images and atmosphere wash over you, Mekong Hotel lacks any dramatic through line though scenes appearing isolated are surprisingly moving at times. It does, somehow, become ultimately gripping where the director has a profound knack of mesmerising with the most mundane things when he wants to. A final shot of the river flowing past and some youths jet-skiing in the distance lasts for minutes on end without ever feeling too long.

This is, however, a bit of self indulgence from Weerasethakul; at least when taken as a film in its own right. It does not have the scale, scope or wonder of his utterly sublime feature output and is perhaps an easier piece to understand when familiar with his previous work and style. It might be that when viewed as part of the entire Mekong Project will feel less like a trifle. As it is, the film is probably one for fans to enjoy and enjoy it they undoubtedly will; anything for a chance to spend an hour with Weerasethakul.

Mekong.Hotel.2012.SUBBED.1080p.BluRay.x264-DEPTH.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	59 min 10 s
Size: 	4.37 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	1920x1080 
Aspect ratio:  	16:9
Frame rate: 	23.976 fps
Bit rate: 	9 048 kb/s
BPP: 	0.182
Audio
#1:  	Thai 5.1ch DTS @ 1 509 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/763CD60AA4AE8D4/Mekong.Hotel.2012.SUBBED.1080p.BluRay.x264-DEPTH.mkv

Language(s):Thai
Subtitles:English

The post Apichatpong Weerasethakul – Mekong Hotel (2012) (HD) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

A romance between a soldier and a country boy, wrapped around a Thai folk-tale involving a shaman with shape-shifting abilities.

Tropical Malady 2004 1080p WEB DD5.1 H.264.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 54 min
Size: 	4.06 GiB
Video
Codec: 	h264
Resolution: 	1920x1080 
Aspect ratio:  	16:9
Frame rate: 	25.000 fps
Bit rate: 	4 620 kb/s
BPP: 	0.089
Audio
#1:  	Thai 5.1ch AC-3 @ 448 kb/s (AC-3 Thai DVD MASTER)

https://nitro.download/view/B12E19D0562E8E0/Tropical_Malady_2004_1080p_WEB_DD5.1_H.264.mkv

Language(s):Thai
Subtitles:English

The post Apichatpong Weerasethakul – Sud pralad AKA Tropical Malady (2004) (HD) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

“Shifting between fact and fiction in a hotel situated along the Mekong River, a filmmaker rehearses a movie expressing the bonds between a vampire-like mother and daughter… “….IMDB

https://nitro.download/view/96530865D609A6D/Mekong_Hotel.mkv
http://www.nitroflare.com/view/ACC06550B772905/Mekong_Hotel.eng.srt
http://www.nitroflare.com/view/6910FBA6D738855/Mekong.Hotel.ita.srt

Language:Thai
Subtitles: French hardcoded,English,Italian

The post Apichatpong Weerasethakul – Mekong Hotel (2012) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
Though often difficult to decipher, the quiet pace and gentle touch of Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s newest film, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, makes for a spiritual and meditative film experience like no other. Uncle Boonmee is ill and his sister-in-law and her son visit as he becomes habituated to the new regiment meant to extend his foreshortened life. Moving closer to death, the barrier between the world of the spirits and that of the living dissolves, and Boonmee is met with his dead wife, his lost son, and of course, his past lives.

Long takes of seemingly mundane daily activities extend what will eventually be forgotten moments, immortalizing their detail and intricacy, while allowing their deliberate pacing to form a powerfully iconoclastic atmosphere. Built on such moments, the audience is forced to reflect on the minute changes in the mise-en-scene, which allows for moments of the supernatural to unfold with patient surrealism. Changes are often so subtle that they are only apparent when fully revealed; the audience can’t help marveling at how such drastic changes and apparitions happened without much notice.

Questions of the unknown seems to be at the heart of this film, especially the search for greater truth. Appropriately cryptic, fears and desires transform into a hyper-emotion. The excitement of discovery as well as the fear of an end blend into one. As Boonmee recalls past lives (and maybe even future ones), his identity becomes somehow more certain. We are not necessarily more privy to his mortal experience, but as his fragmented existence comes together he becomes more serene, and the audience does as well. Finding the meaning of life is futile, but finding peace in the journey is pivotal.

2.37GB | 1h 48m | 1024×560 | mkv

https://nitro.download/view/C5619481E5E0892/Apichatpong_Weerasethakul_-_(2010)_Uncle_Boonmee_Who_Can_Recall_His_Past_Lives.mkv

Language:Thai,French
Subtitles:English

The post Apichatpong Weerasethakul – Loong Boonmee raleuk chat AKA Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010) first appeared on Cinema of the World.