Cemetery of Splendor

Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul has attracted a small but enthusiastic following for his enigmatic, lyrical films (including Blissfully Yours and Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives). Cemetery of Splendor focuses on a rural hospital where a group of soldiers are being treated—all are victims of a mysterious coma from which they sporadically awake before relapsing. Among the volunteers is kindly but disabled Jenjira (Jenjira Pongpas), who develops a bond with Itt (Banlop Lomnoi), one of the narcoleptics. The pair go out occasionally when Itt is awake, and Jenjira is visited by a couple of goddesses, who inform her that the hospital sits atop an ancient cemetery and that those buried there might be feeding on the patients' spirits. A medium also arrives who claims to be able to converse with the comatose men; she acts as a conduit between Jenjira and Itt while he's asleep. But these threads never coalesce into anything like a conventional narrative, nor is the relationship between Jenjira and Itt an incipient romance—she has an American boyfriend. Weerasethakul's primary interest is in building a dreamlike mood, marked by long, static shots in which lighting changes color, or totally inexplicable moments such as a brief scene in which an amoeba is superimposed over a cloudy sky. Fans of the director and art house films in general will likely be enchanted, although others will find their patience tested. Recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a behind-the-scenes featurette (18 min.), deleted scenes (13 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is director Apichatpong Weerasethakul's 2012 film Mekong Hotel (60 min.), Bottom line: a fine extras package for this often visually striking foreign film.] (F. Swietek)