A Buddhist Journey: A different view of life, film and the spectator through Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s experimental narratives
Creators: name: Daley, Dianne Priscilla
Publisher: name: Monash University
Year: 2017
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: Contemporary Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul has been expanding the possibilities of cinema with his full-length experimental narrative films. There is increasing recognition of Apichatpong’s importance as a filmmaker and his films have won many awards including the 2010 Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. International recognition of Apichatpong, particularly on the film festival circuit, has far exceeded local recognition in Thailand. While his films have been compared to numerous modern masters of cinema they have proved difficult to categorise. Most critical writings about his films take a Western theoretical perspective and despite frequent mentions of a Buddhist influence, this aspect remains largely under-examined. This thesis will consider how a Buddhist perspective enables a closer understanding of forces at work in Apichatpong’s films. <br> <br> Film theory has not embraced Buddhist thought with much enthusiasm even though there are increasing numbers of Buddhist-themed, or Buddhist-inspired films. In addition, the complexity of Buddhism has often been overlooked. However a Buddhist perspective has the ability to reveal much about Apichatpong’s experimental approach to storytelling, his harnessing of the mind’s inclination to wander, and the fluidity of time and space and interweaving of the supernatural and the mundane in his films. In order to demonstrate this, an original framework of a Buddhist lens has been devised. This Buddhist lens is based on the key teachings of the Buddha as conveyed by the Thai Forest monks, who are of particular significance in the northeast of Thailand, which is where Apichatpong grew up and is a favoured location for his films. This Buddhist lens draws largely on teachings of two famous Thai Forest monks Ajahn Chah and Buddhadasa Bhikkhu. Local Buddhist practice interweaves animism and this is also reflected in the Buddhist lens. <br> <br> This thesis argues that a Buddhist lens enables insight into Apichatpong’s focus on nature and the ordinary, his collaborative approach and radical engagement of the spectator, his approach to the question of reality, and the intricate, interconnected construction of his films. The thesis does not aim to unravel the mysterious quality of these films but instead to bring us closer to them. This Buddhist lens is introduced in the introductory chapter and is framed according to the Buddha’s key teachings, which include the Buddhist path, impermanence, interdependence and emptiness. Each of the four chapters of the thesis addresses one of these teachings, beginning with the Buddhist path, and each chapter applies a Buddhist lens to one or two of six of Apichatpong’s full-length experimental narratives. <br> <br> While the thesis could be considered an auteur study of sorts, it differs from traditional auteur studies in that it does not consider Apichatpong’s entire body of work (he is also an acclaimed installation artist) and does not attempt to explore all the influences in his work but approaches his full-length films from the particular focus of a Buddhist perspective. In doing so, the thesis provides a new way of understanding Apichatpong’s films through a Buddhist lens employed as an original theoretical framework.