SCFZ poll: Apichatpong Weerasethakul

[flip]

Polling the films of director Apichatpong Weerasethakul

The rules:

- your list can include no more than half of the Weerasethakul films you've seen, up to a maximum of 5. So if you've seen seven of his films, for example, you can list only a top 3. It's only if you've seen ten or more of his films than you can list the maximum of five.

- i'll assume ballots are ranked unless you tell me otherwise. unranked ballots are fine.

- deadline for ballots: next Tuesday, in seven days, whatever day that is

- if anyone is watching films for these polls, then i'll extend the deadline three days, if someone requests an extension

- next poll: whoever posts the first ballot in this thread is free to nominate the director we poll next, unless you've nominated in this round already (everyone should get a chance). Already nominated this round: brian d, greennui, ofrene, kanafani, bure, greg x, oscarwerner, silga, dt

umbugbene created an index on letterboxd of all of our previous polls here: letterboxd.com/umbugbene/list/index-of-all-scfz-director-polls/

one rule for nominees: at least 3 scfzers need to have seen 10+ of a nominee's films, or at least 4 scfzers need to have seen at least 8 of the nom's films, so if it isn't clear if that will be the case, we'll confirm that's true before moving forward

if 24 hours pass after a poll opens, and no one eligible to nominate has posted a ballot, then i'll nominate someone, and then we'll start over, and everyone will be able to nominate again

[flip]

only seen three but might try to see one more, for now:

cemetery of splendour

[kanafani]

Syndromes and a Century
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
Cemetery of Splendour
Tropical Malady
Blissfully Yours

[DT.]

1. Blissfully Yours
2. Syndromes and a Century
3. Cemetery of Splendour
4. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
5. Tropical Malady

[ofrene]

only 4

1. Cemetery of Splendour
2. Blue

[Umbugbene]

Seen 7

1. Syndromes and a Century
2. Cemetery of Splendour

[brian d]

seen 5

uncle boonmee... past lives

[Umbugbene]

Do I get to pick the next director? If so then Carl Theodor Dreyer.

[...]

Syndromes and a Century
Tropical Malady
Blissfully Yours
A Letter to Uncle Boonmee
Phantoms of Nabua

[flip]

Do I get to pick the next director? If so then Carl Theodor Dreyer.

you do! dreyer it is, i assume he'll have the views

[Roscoe]

I've seen two, and didn't care enough for either of them.

[thoxans]

tropical malady

*seen three (i'm really surprised that tm doesn't rate more highly for more champs...)

[greennui]

Syndromes and a Century
Tropical Malady

[mesnalty]

Seen 14:

1. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
2. Tropical Malady
3. Syndromes and a Century
4. Cemetery of Splendor
5. Blissfully Yours

[nrh]

seen 15 i think -

syndromes and a century
worldly desires
blissfully yours
cemetery of splendor
luminous people

[Curtis, baby]

seen 4

unranked list

Cemetery of Splendour
Mekhong Hotel



great pick, Umbugbene. i was going to select dreyer next. i've seen 9, but have one more on my very immediate docket

[oscarwerner]

Seen only 3.
I know -my weak place. All 3 i saw at similar style and level. I vote for:
1.Tropical Malady (2004)
(i have 8 Dreyer )

[arkheia]

Seen 16 Weerasethakul films and 8+ Dreyer films

1. Cemetery of Splendour
2. Tropical Malady
3. Syndromes and a Century
4. Blissfully Yours
5. Mysterious Object at Noon

[john ryan]

Seen 10

1. Tropical Malady
2. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
3. A Letter to Uncle Boonmee
4. Syndromes and a Century
5. Cemeterey of Splendour

[Zulawski]

Not seen much, but I adored these two:

1. Syndromes and a Century
2. Tropical Malady

[flip]

i had no idea what to expect from this poll, but i thought uncle boonmee would probably win (in part because i expected it to be the most widely seen) so the fact that a different film won in a bit of a landslide was a surprise. the half points arose because one ballot was unranked:

results

1. Syndromes and a Century (2006) -- 35 pts
2. Tropical Malady (2004) -- 26 pts
3. Cemetery of Splendour (2015) -- 24.5 pts
4. Blissfully Yours (2002) -- 17 pts
5. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010) -- 16 pts
6. A Letter to Uncle Boonmee (2009) -- 5 pts
7. Worldly Desires (2005) -- 4 pts
8. Mekong Hotel (2012) -- 1.5 pts
9. Mysterious Object at Noon (2000) -- 1 pt
9. Phantoms of Nabua (2009) -- 1 pt
9. Luminous People (2007) -- 1 pt
9. Blue (2018) -- 1 pt

[...]

Oh, for what it's worth, I changed my ballot before you posted, but it seems after you tabulated it. Phantoms of Nabua got my last spot. No big deal though.

Syndromes, I think, really was the movie that got Apichatpong his first major notice as a great director on a lot of the film sites, sort of proving the promise of his three earlier features could still be expanded upon (as well as reading a bit more "straight" perhaps allowing him to escape a mistaken idea of niche appeal), Uncle Boonmee was the follow up that recognized that status. So I think the ranking makes some sense in that light. That and Syndromes is pretty great in its own right of course.

[flip]

yeah i think i was tallying at the same time you were editing your ballot, easy to change the list! updated.

[josiahmorgan11]

1. cemetery of splendour
2. syndromes and a century
3. tropical malady

[josiahmorgan11]

lol oops nevermind, consider my ballot there for posterity :')

[flip]

i counted it! it didn't change the order at all anyway

[wba2]

1. Blissfully Yours
2. Tropical Malady

Weerasethakul seen: 4

[flip]

up at letterboxd:

https://letterboxd.com/fliptrotsky/list ... directors/