Lin Songtao

254238712@qq.com

WANT to escape from scorching summer heat? Enjoying a movie in a cinema is an excellent choice, and you may get an extra cool and refreshing experience if you select “Memoria” by Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

As the director’s first public film screening on the Chinese mainland, this Spanish-English drama, which ignited a discussion wave on social platforms, follows the steps of Jessica (acted by Oscar Golden Statuette winner Tilda Swinton), an expat living in Colombia, who always hears strange bangs and sets out to find its source. The film was awarded the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021.

On July 12, Weerasethakul was invited to have an online exchange with audiences at Broadway Cinematheque Shenzhen. Viewers from Beijing and Shanghai cinemas also joined in.

For the film’s preparations, Weerasethakul recalled that he listened many stories in Colombia and incorporated his memories in Thailand. “A mixture of personal observations forms this film. It has a theme of solitude.”

The film uses less dialogues and more sound effects, which can be said to be its prominent characteristic that makes it special. For example, the closing credits were accompanied by a simple summer rain sound from the start to the end.

“It (the sound) allows you to listen, to interpret in different ways and be quieter, rather than just busy looking at various scenes. You’re very focused. Also, when I was making this film, I need this kind of focus,” the director said.

Talking about why he chose to set the film in Colombia, Weerasethakul reckoned the story could have happened in many countries, but it’s very suitable for Colombia. “The movie kind of presents the shared memory of the Thai and Colombian people; that’s unique. If I made it in another country, I would still be happy but it would be another film,” he smiled as he spoke.

An audience member mentioned that the film to some extent reminded him of the book “Las Venas Abiertas de América Latina” (“The Dissected Blood Vessel of Latin America”),  which expresses the tragic history of this land.

In response, the director said he viewed the work as a dream. “Not much of the ultra realism; it’s more about personal journey. I try not to present actual violence or trauma, but they’re hidden. As an open platform, the film allows you dream in your own way.”

Regarding the strange sound’s source — an outer planet spacecraft, Weerasethakul said the scene made by computer graphics was just one of the possibilities, which was inspired by his love for science fiction novels.

The role of Hernán Bedoya plays a key part in the film, which helps connect Jessica’s memories with him. Weerasethakul chose two actors to perform as the young Bedoya and the elder one, who look totally different from each other.

He said that Bedoya was originally acted by one man wearing different makeup. “But as I reviewed the film time after time, I realized that maybe Bedoya doesn’t exist, and also because the film later reveals that ‘this is not reality,’ so Bedoya could be any man, so it doesn’t matter who plays him.”

In Weerasethakul’s previous works, most of the actors are nonprofessional and even some of them are the director’s friends. In “Memoria,” the situation is to the contrary. When being asked if there are any new feelings working with many professional players, the director said, “Everything is so new to Swinton, she didn’t know much about Colombia, and new to me too. She and other actors are really open. Everything is about being fresh and not tied to any kind of preconception of acting or directing.”

Jessica is acting like a memory device that acquires others’ experience by a touch. “The movie is like a bridge that allows us to empathize with others, because for the course of two hours, you became Jessica; you could also hear the sounds that no one else hears,” the director commented.

“We’re also like the movie that can collect memories, and we experience the world with vision and hearing,” he said. “Cinema allows us to be someone else. We can sense the differences among us, but at the same time, it unifies us as well. It’s profound to be human.”