Memoria (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2021)

[Ovader]

Apichatpong Weerasethakul to Shoot Next Feature in Colombia

[Cremildo]

Memoria, his next film, will be released in North America by Neon.

[senseabove]

FilmComment is publishing a set diary from the set of Memoria, updated "every afternoon for the next week," including this amusing technical trivia: "The script comprises a much greater number of locations [than AW's previous films] as well as some unprecedentedly fancy toys, such as a 500-foot dolly, apparently the longest in Colombian film history, which I’m told required sourcing every dolly track available in the country."

[Petty Bourgeoisie]

I'm worried this might be AW's My Blueberry Nights. I hope I'm wrong.

[zedz]

I'm worried this might be AW's My Blueberry Nights. I hope I'm wrong.

I'm worried it might be his The Adventure of Iron Pussy. Oh, wait a minute. . .

[knives]

Honestly that's the only film of his I haven't seen in interested in because it sounds so different from the rest of his films.

[zedz]

It's nowhere near being good, but it's certainly an interesting curio. If you didn't know, you'd never guess it's the same director.

[Never Cursed]

Memoria to get an absurd touring, theaters-only release strategy - bizarrely, it seems that, at least for now, the plan is for the film to not receive streaming or home video releases

[swo17]

Memoria to get an absurd touring, theaters-only release strategy - bizarrely, it seems that, at least for now, the plan is for the film to not receive streaming or home video releases

That sounds kinda cool actually, not in general but for this specific film

[Ribs]

It’s also a weird choice given the film is being released in a dozen territories by MUBI and has plenty of other distributors around the world that can do whatever they want with the movie. It also seems disingenuous to frame it as “this way, everyone sees the movie the way it was meant to be seen” because this same distributor booked the movie for virtual Toronto just two weeks ago.

[Never Cursed]

I wouldn't mind the touring strategy on its own, but that they won't release it on home video makes it completely inaccessible to anyone outside of a city here with a reasonable arthouse presence. That strikes me as almost regressive - I don't know why anyone would want a return to the more stratified distribution of the pre-home video era when we have the technology to make the films available everywhere

And to add on to Ribs' point, it's not like this film won't be stamped onto US DVDs - it's Colombia's Foreign Language submission, so plenty of Academy voters are going to be able to watch it at home

[swo17]

Presumably this film is about the preciousness of one-time experiences? In any case, if one of those other distributors puts out a home video release, problem solved.

I'm curious if zedz, who I believe has seen the film, thinks this is a fitting strategy or a corny gimmick

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

It’s also a weird choice given the film is being released in a dozen territories by MUBI and has plenty of other distributors around the world that can do whatever they want with the movie. It also seems disingenuous to frame it as “this way, everyone sees the movie the way it was meant to be seen” because this same distributor booked the movie for virtual Toronto just two weeks ago.

I totally agree but was it actually available virtually through TIFF? I can only find in-person screenings listed, it doesn't look like it was even available on their industry-only streaming platform.

[Pavel]

I also agree but it definitely wasn't available virtually at TIFF. Also Columbia submitting an Apichatpong film for the Oscars is pretty epic

[Ribs]

It was available to the press in Canada geolocked digitally. It was not made available widely w the full press corps, but plenty of movies opted out of that.

[soundchaser]

Presumably this film is about the preciousness of one-time experiences? In any case, if one of those other distributors puts out a home video release, problem solved.

I'm curious if zedz, who I believe has seen the film, thinks this is a fitting strategy or a corny gimmick

I haven't seen the film, but a fairly easy counter is that all experiences are one-time experiences by virtue of the time/place/headspace in which you experience them.

In any case, I look forward to inevitably pirating this when it comes nowhere within a hundred miles of me.

[Oedipax]

Pretty lame - I wouldn’t notice/care much about the city by city touring aspect (fine, whatever) but to forgo a physical release? Thank goodness there’ll inevitably be an international distributor with more sense.

[swo17]

Presumably this film is about the preciousness of one-time experiences? In any case, if one of those other distributors puts out a home video release, problem solved.

I'm curious if zedz, who I believe has seen the film, thinks this is a fitting strategy or a corny gimmick

I haven't seen the film, but a fairly easy counter is that all experiences are one-time experiences by virtue of the time/place/headspace in which you experience them.

In any case, I look forward to inevitably pirating this when it comes nowhere within a hundred miles of me.

A film's scarcity can add to its mystique, even if the more resourceful among us can find other ways to experience it

[soundchaser]

A film's scarcity can add to its mystique, even if the more resourceful among us can find other ways to experience it

I don't necessarily disagree (and I know arguments have been made along those lines on this board before), but I'll take accessibility over mystique any day. Unless there's something special about the form of the film that *requires* a roadshow experience? But based on its screenings so far I think that would be a tough justification.

[Never Cursed]

No one should *have* to pirate a film or import a potentially region unfriendly copy of a film to watch it. I'm not saying the film needs to open in 4000 theaters or be distributed for free or anything, but why should its scarcity be praised when it is demonstrably completely artificial?

[domino harvey]

Memoria to get an absurd touring, theaters-only release strategy - bizarrely, it seems that, at least for now, the plan is for the film to not receive streaming or home video releases

Generally speaking, anyone following Crispin Glover’s theatrical distribution model would do well to reconsider

[zedz]

Presumably this film is about the preciousness of one-time experiences? In any case, if one of those other distributors puts out a home video release, problem solved.

I'm curious if zedz, who I believe has seen the film, thinks this is a fitting strategy or a corny gimmick

It's a great film, but I'm not sure there's anything about it that sets it apart from other Weerasethakul films that would make this strategy especially appropriate. It's a rather quiet and intimate film, with a lot of key scenes taking place indoors (e.g. in a sound studio), and the climax of the film is a long conversation between two characters by the side of a river. I saw it at home and it was completely captivating in that context.

Obvious reasons for preferring to see it in a cinema: the money shot at the end that 'resolves' the film's central riddle (kinda), and the sound design. It's not really a spoiler to reveal that the film is about Tilda Swinton being haunted by a weird, intrusive noise, and it's highly likely that this noise is even weirder and more jarring in a properly equipped cinema. Maybe it's a Melancholia situation where the film has a completely different impact in a cinema with great sound because of this and I'm in blissful ignorance.

Oh, and swo: that's not what the "memoria" of the title relates to. It's more anthropological than psychological.

[swo17]

No one should *have* to pirate a film or import a potentially region unfriendly copy of a film to watch it. I'm not saying the film needs to open in 4000 theaters or be distributed for free or anything, but why should its scarcity be praised when it is demonstrably completely artificial?

You guys only listen to the mixed down version of Zaireeka, don't you?

[Never Cursed]

The inaccessibility of that album is completely different to and a far less literal inaccessibility than that being forced upon Memoria by Neon, that is not a fair comparison

[knives]

Presumably this film is about the preciousness of one-time experiences? In any case, if one of those other distributors puts out a home video release, problem solved.

I'm curious if zedz, who I believe has seen the film, thinks this is a fitting strategy or a corny gimmick

I haven't seen the film, but a fairly easy counter is that all experiences are one-time experiences by virtue of the time/place/headspace in which you experience them.

In any case, I look forward to inevitably pirating this when it comes nowhere within a hundred miles of me.

WKW was right?