A subtle, strange, dream-like experience that will draw you in if you relax and let it get under your skin. Some seriously fantastic imagery (the creatures, the catfish sequence, the caves). The pacing is very slow, which adds to the dreamy feel of the imagery and story.

Despite all the imagery beauty, it was difficult to follow. It is also filled with cultural and symbolic meanings which remained esoteric for me.

I don't think I understood this as a metaphor, but it was beautiful and dreamlike and kind of funny. I was reminded of Kieslowski in parts.

I feel bad giving this such a low rating. I really, really wanted to like this movie, and went in with high expectations. I was blown away by the film's images. It's absolutely beautiful to look at with several moments of perfectly pristine shots. However, the story drags like hell. I was extremely bored, it lagged when it really didn't need to. Much of the dialogue just wasn't that captivating, and it was spaced in between long segments of silence. Beautiful images only brings this film so far.

12 ekim 10, filmekimi10, atlas, 19:00, yonetmenin izledigim ilk filmi & ruya gibi. belki de uzakdogu (tayland) kulturune oldukca uzak oldugum icin yabanci kaldigim noktalar oldu. belki de film magarada (ana rahminde) bitseydi, daha anlasilir olabilirdi. mukemmel bir yonetmenlik var, tamamen farkli bir tarz, farkli bir sinema- alisilmisin cok disinda. (belki de sinemada anlamaktan cok hissetmek onemlidir) / 24 temmuz 11, sabaha karsi. filmi ikinci kez izleyince yonetmenin onunde secde ediyorum.

With surprising simplicity, Weerasethakul reaches for - and achieves - a kind of manifesto on contemporary spirituality, with some fasinating answers. Boonmee's bizarre journey into the liminal space between the Here and After is arresting because of a tone simultaneously dense and ethereal, baffling and illuminating - and often, the characters do pretty much nothing. (Or, perhaps, everything: Even a dank cave, in the right light, can double for a starry sky.)

Obviously a little slow and meandering at times, but when it hits on an interesting idea or scene, it's as thoughtful as anything I've seen recently. I feel this will grow in my estimation the more I return to it.

What a waste of film. There are long stretches of the film's characters doing things like bathing, watching TV, working on a farm, walking, carrying things, driving, and so on. I felt like I picked up on a lot of the themes being presented, but it was presented so poorly. A lot of people walked out of the theater, and absolutely no one clapped (most people clap for the films at the festival I saw this at). A lot of scenes just happen, with no connection or segue, and you're left stranded. Bah.

It's hard to conceptualize my reaction; either it's such a defiantly mystical work that I don't stand a chance of understanding anything or there's merely a wealth of Thai culture and perception that I'm completely in the dark about (the latter is more likely). Still, I can't say I was bored, what with ghost monkeys and a princess parable flying around the thing. To be any more literal than it was (which is to say not very much) would have been detrimental to its effect.

Enigmatic and often mesmerizing, Boonmee is filmmaking at its purest state.

That was weird.

Pretty slow, but an interesting movie nonetheless. Great cinematography.

I'm still not quite sure what I watched, but it was pretty cool.

A visually rich and evocative portrait of a man nearing death. The film plays out in dreamlike fashion, the connections between one scene and the next often obscure. The sometimes fantastical events that unfold within scenes are handled matter of factly, as if the worlds of the living and the dead are in much closer contact than our normal experience would affirm.

mysterious and funny, spooky and insightful

i mean... the catfish though.

It wasn't bad, but I can't remember a thing of it although I saw it quite recently (six moths ago?). So somehow not my movie.

Provocative, but confusing.

Defies words and explanations, certainly a unique and oblique work of cinema. It is very much tied to the experiences of living in Thailand to the point where I feel I can't understand it all, but the overarching themes on the past and cinema itself are very relatable. The visuals are breathtaking, the surrealist segments captivating, even if it wasn't really what I was expecting.

Gripping and beautiful from the start. Not sure why so many people find this boring.

My ignorance about both Thailand and Buddhism certainly hindered my enjoyment of this extremely slow paced film, though there is a lot of beauty in it as well, especially in the finale.

one of a kind.

It's.....unique? That's about as far as I'll go.

What.

One of the most unpredictable films I've ever seen, constantly surprising you, and yet never relies on "weird for the sake of being weird" gimmicks to keep you on your toes. It all feels organic, and the atmosphere of the film -- the gorgeous imagery and evocative sounds -- envelops you in an almost hypnotic sense. I was utterly transfixed, fascinated by the strange rhythms and events, unable to look away as I attempted to piece it together. A beautiful, magical, humorous and touching film.

I'll have to watch this again as I feel like I missed its meaning, but my initial reaction was of dissapointment.

I struggled on whether I wanted to give this a 100 or a 98 or a 99. You know what? Fuck it... 100 it is. It's not quite as good as Tropical Malady but very few films are. This is good enough to be in my Faves List, though. The imagery is beautiful of course and I love how Weerasethakul always makes the surroundings characters. This is an odd film, and it's filmed in a few different ways which makes it interesting. It's confusing and slow, but awesome.

Recalls Tropical Malady more than anything in his past lives...

A contemporary work of art about life, death and cherished memories with a yearning for a past sparingly referred to. The imagery is striking, at times disturbingly breathtaking. It's only after you have left the theater and reenter the world of mindless conformism that you realise how profoundly this film has reached your heart.

i need another runthrough

"Throughout Uncle Boonmee, Weerasethakul sees weirdness and wonder in the mundane, from the taste of tea to a daylight stroll across a field alive with the buzz of honeybees." - Ed Gonzalez

Very strange film. I confess I didn't really understand any part of it, but then it didn't help falling asleep for 45 minutes.

I'm rather struggling for words with it, but I will say it is a magical and powerful experience, it's often confounding but is all the better for it, it captures that sort of serene beauty Joe excels at, and I'm fairly certain it will grow on me over time and with repeat viewings.