Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
 

Syndromes and a Century (2006)

Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul

5
Average user rating
1 review

Movie review

From Time Out Chicago

As in Tropical Malady, Thai sensation (and School of the Art Institute grad) “Joe” Weerasethakul has staged a symphonic mindfuck in two acts. The first half, set in the past, begins with an interview between Dr. Toey (Sawaddikul) and Dr. Nohng (Iamaram); the second, set in the present, opens with a near identical scene, but this time Nohng is the protagonist.

Weerasethakul claims both characters are based on his parents, but nothing is so straightforward. A flashback takes over the first section; when we return to the initial time frame, the focus has shifted to a dentist (Cherkam) who moonlights as a singer and a monk (Kaewbuadee) who dreams of being a DJ.

Syndromes builds its power through repetition. Scenes are replayed from opposite angles; snatches of dialogue are echoed verbatim. Nexuses form between amputation and aerobics, a solar eclipse and a medical-lab suction pipe. Drawing a bridge between spiritual and scientific worlds, the film’s structure hinges on reincarnation and sun-based chakra healing. What is clear, more than anything else, is that no current filmmaker is so adept at capturing nature, or at making incoherence so bizarrely compelling.

Author: Ben Kenigsberg 2008-01-30 23:18:41

Time Out Chicago Issue 115: May 10–16, 2007

  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

User reviews of this film

  • Lee Jolleys said...
    Posted on Nov 04 2007 10:19 To say that this film is hard to get into is putting it lightly. Maybe the film wasn't made for a Sheffield audience on a Friday afternoon in late Autumn but it certainly got a chilly reception. I counted four people that walked out before the end and there was definately reflief on the face of the other 40 or so people in the cinema when the credits came on after 140 mins of the most slow placed cinematography seen for some time. Syndromes & ... started out as apparently a comedy but maybe the script didn't translate so well into English and the only one-liner that got even a chuckle from the audience was the one about a brothel. No doubt the Art-House fans will laud this film up and maybe myself and virtually everyone else in the cinema at the showing I attended failed to grasp the films true meaning but this is one film I definately won't be recommending to anyone to see or looking forward to the speical edition DVD.
    Report as inappropriate

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields


Syndromes and a Century

Cast & crew

Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Cast: Nantarat Sawaddikul, Jaruchai Iamaram, Sakda Kaewbuadee, Arkanae Cherkam, Nu Nimsomboon, Jenjira Pongpas, Sophon Pukanok full cast

Genre(s): Drama

Rated: NR

Duration: 105 mins

Related articles


Features

Making a name for himself

Making a name for himself

Sin Nombre's Cary Joji Fukunaga learned his lessons well.

To the letter

Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.

Mind over matter

David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.

Fool's gold

Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.

We are the championed

Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."

A history of violence

Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.

True romantic

James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.

Playing in the dark

MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.

Junk bonds

Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.