THE CINEMA OF APICHATPONG WEERASETHAKUL - Metaphors: Selected Soundworks From The Cinema Of Apichatpong Weerasethakul

An artist in the broadest sense, multidisciplinary in practice, Apichatpong Weerasethakul has articulated his vision of the world through cinema, sound art and video installation, elevating the natural landscapes and humble human settlements of Thailand's most remote regions into universal allegory. The magical realism that envelops the slow narratives of his films, performed by non-professional actors, has captivated the juries of Cannes and Venice, earning him the Palme d'Or for "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" (2010).

This first record release, issued by the prestigious Sub Rosa, aims to render in sound the atmospheres and core motifs of the poetically dreamlike world Weerasethakul has shaped over the years. It does so through a selection of contributions to be understood as complementary facets of the same free emotional score, bringing together rich soundscapes, traditional songs and radio hits contemporary with the shooting phases.

Paradoxically, the sequences most closely associated with the respective films are the field recordings layered and manipulated in the studio by composers Akritchalerm Kalayanamitr and Koichi Shimizu: self-contained dioramas evoking motionless forest nocturnes or placidly rainy nights, animated by the monologues of birds, insects and solitary cattle ("Dawn Of Boonmee"), only occasionally shaken by menacing subterranean rumblings ("Roar") or accompanied by equally solitary musical instruments ("For Tonight").

On the more properly musical side of the tracklist, the plaintive minor tonality of the post-rock piece "Memory Of The Future" (from the soundtrack of "Syndromes And A Century", 2006) stands apart from the breezy, faintly kitsch mood of the one-off appearances representing the most saccharine Eastern pop-rock ("Straight" by Fashion Show and the closing "Acrophobia" by Bangkok's Penguin Villa).

On record as on the big screen, however, it is the excerpt from the recent "Cemetery Of Splendour" that shines like a diamond among many poor stones: "Destiny" is a moving mother's song recovered from childhood memory, a lullaby meant to soothe the bedside vigil of soldiers struck by a mysterious comatose sleep.

The suggestions gathered in "Metaphors" thus constitute what the master Ryuichi Sakamoto enthusiastically called a "totality of sound and music", an ambitious goal for summing up a filmography so singular and alien to our narrative conventions. The charm of these sonorities, unfortunately, does not make up for a listening experience that is overall not very engaging and marked by very stark contrasts: valuable as a documentary and archival document, yet "elusive" in its ultimate meaning.

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10/11/2017