Top Prize For Thai Film

After going through months of chaos and violent caused by political problems, Thais have something to celebrate today. Last night a Thai film won top prize, Palme d'Or at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, a feat achieved by Thailand for the first time.

The movie " Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives " is an horror movie directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. According to Apichatpong, the movie is inspired by a book written by a Buddhist monk, Phra Sripariyattiweti who is from his hometown in Khon Kaen, northern Thailand. The book is about people who are able to recall their past lives.

The horror movie is about a man dying of kidney failures returns to his hometown in northeast Thailand and is visited by his late wife and his missing son, who has turned into a monkey. The movie has scenes among others featuring monks, ghosts, red eye monkey and even a disfigured princess having sex with a catfish.

The director almost failed to make it to Cannes on time as his passport which was sent to the British Embassy for stamping was "stucked" there because the embassy was closed due to the protest. In his winning speech, he thanked not only his parents for introducing him to cinema by bringing him to one when he was a little boy but also all the spirits and ghosts in Thailand for making it possible for him to be at the festival.






Here's the official trailer