Phantoms of Nabua
2009 · 11m · Thailand
Directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Genres: experimental
Tones: contemplative, melancholic, surreal
In a Thai village repeatedly struck by lightning, silhouetted young men emerge at night to play with a ball of fire, kicking it across the grass and leaving illuminated trails as the game intensifies — part of director Weerasethakul's Primitive project exploring remembrance and extinction in northeast Thailand.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Boys kicking a flaming football around a Thai field while lightning strikes a screen behind them — slow-cinema as séance. Weerasethakul at his most installation-leaning, and that's a compliment.
Weerasethakul's flaming football in the lightning-struck field is one of the indelible images of twenty-first century art cinema, equal parts political reverie and ghost story. Archive hosts a workable print.
Apichatpong's single mesmerizing long take of silhouetted men kicking a flaming football across dark grass - the trails of fire ARE the cinematography. Internet Archive confirms the film is preserved.
Reviews
Powerful and intelligent filmmaking that blurs the boundaries between art installation and cinema.
Beautiful, but tightly controlled — the director's decisions and symbolism are overly present.
Festivals
- DocLisboa International Film Festival 2024