Syndromes and a Century

When writing reviews it is customary to avoid the first person, yet the excitement I felt on first watching this film for the time (and my enthusiasm has not dimmed fi... more >

When writing reviews it is customary to avoid the first person, yet the excitement I felt on first watching this film for the time (and my enthusiasm has not dimmed five – yes, five – viewings later) demands I break my own rule. Apichatpong Weerasethakul is my favourite living director, and Syndromes and a Century is a film that everyone should experience, at least once.

It is impossible, and unhelpful, to summarise the plot; suffice to say it plays with the notions of time, memory and spirituality; set in a Thai hospital, it is loosely inspired by the life and love of the director’s parents. As in his previous works, the film is divided into two parts, in which elements and motifs from the first half reappear with added significance in the second. The film is alternately moving, haunting (the lingering shot of the suction pump is the shot of the year) and hilarious. Ethereal, breathtaking and completely mesmerising, it is cinematic poetry, and earns that most over-used of terms – a masterpiece. < less

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DVD Extras

• Interview with director
• Worldly Desires: an experimental love story (Weerasethakul, 2005, 40 minutes)
• Original trailer
• Illustrated booklet with production stills, location drawings, etc.

Film Details

Technical Details