“Memoria” movie tip – The Taste of Being – kath.ch

Jessica woke up one night to a strange explosion. How can you only hear the noise? Is she crazy or is there more? Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s “Memoria” lyrically tells about memories, present and inner peace.

Sarah Stott

Scotsman Jessica Holland (amazing: Tilda Swinton) lives in the Colombian city of Medellin and grows orchids. When she visits her sister Karen in Bogotá, she awakens one night to a strange explosion. A few days later, I heard the muffled voice again in a restaurant, but only Jessica seemed to notice it.

You are no longer in harmony with yourself

The noise seems to be a harbinger or symptom of a profound change that you cannot fathom. Are you experiencing a psychotic breakdown or are you on the cusp of a transition? Together with an audio engineer, she tries to understand the “rumbling from the depths of the earth” and filters out all possible sounds. But that doesn’t make it any closer to an answer. What is this voice trying to tell you?

Reincarnation – the self between the past and the future

Like many of his previous works, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s first non-Thai film (Uncle Boonmee, 2010) also deals with reincarnation. Memoria was also affected by the fact that uracethacol himself was experiencing a kind of auditory hallucination. He began to explore the concepts of trauma, suffering, and memory.

The film shows an intoxicating meditative effect and remains mysterious throughout. “Memoria” derives its wonderful quality from the slow lyrical style. This follows dream-like logic in order to ultimately reflect on a deep human existential fear.

«Memoria», Colombia, Thailand, UK, Mexico, France 2021, Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Cast: Tilda Swinton, Jeanne Balibar, Juan Pablo Urrego, Distributor: Cinémathèque suisse, www.cinematheque.ch

Theatrical release: June 2, 2022