VIFF 2021 REVIEW | "Memoria" Makes For A Memorable Cinematic Experience

Memoria is my introduction to Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s work - and what an introduction it was. While context on his filmmaking style may have helped pad this pensive presentation, there can be a particular satisfaction with going into a film absent of expectations and coming out on the other side with a new sense of enlightenment. In the case of Memoria, those who are also being introduced to Weerasethakul’s craft in filmmaking will find themselves exposed to a truly unique cinematic experience, and for me, that experience was nothing short of astonishing.

Jessica Holland, played by the magnificent Tilda Swinton, hears a booming sound that, strangely, nobody else is able to hear. The mysterious sound is sudden and startling and distressing for Jessica. So she begins to investigate what could be causing this phenomenon - an inquiry that leads her on a journey to the Amazon for answers.

The premise is every bit as alluring as it sounds, however, don’t let that fool you into expecting a moderately paced mystery. Many may find that, for a story about one’s pressing pursuit for answers, Memoria clings to an overbearing need - or perhaps deep seated desire - to meander and dawdle on it’s way from the opening credits to the closing. Extended stationary shots act as a petrified eye on an event, a discussion, or stationary subjects; a thoughtful and dream-like way to approach this narrative.

For many, this may make Memoria an experience to both love and loathe as the idleness simultaneously breeds admiration for the beauty that exudes from each frame of the film as well as contempt for how long Weerasethakul demands audiences linger in that admiration. It seems to be strictly for the sake of art and meditation that Weerasethakul wears on the patience of audiences in this Memoria experience. But I say, thank the powers that be for that sake of art and meditation because Memoria is the kind of surrealist tourism I swoon over.

With a newly announced buzz-minded release model that will see the film screen at only one theater per week indefinitely, demand for experiencing Memoria is sure to be feverish - and I’m obliged to add fuel to that fire. It’s true that Memoria won’t be everyone’s cup of canelazo, but it’s intoxicating to have had a sip anyway. The film is painstakingly slow, and deliberately so, but the grandeur that exists in the destination of this narrative exists ten-fold in the various detours and pit stops along the way. And despite the pace - in a kaleidoscopic cross between counter-intuitivity, irony, and genius - Memoria is a film that begins and ends, quite literally, with a bang.

MoviesThomas Stoneham-JudgeOctober 9, 2021memoria, tilda swinton, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, viff, viff 2021Comment