Syndromes and a Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2006)
Well...I'm not entirely sure what I think of this yet, it's a very interesting film. I was very much with the first half, although it took some time to really get into it. The minimalist style is really beautiful, and there's a lot of really great choices that I loved. The simplicity of the opening credit sequence was awesome. The way different threads of story are picked up and dropped in a seemingly chaotic way was strange, but I was okay with it. Once I got into the right mindset I was just enjoying the mood and ambiance (perhaps the key word) of it.
Once it hits that point where the opening scenes are repeated, it really changed how I was viewing the movie. Suddenly I was trying to make sense of things, comparing the differences, trying to find what the significance might be, instead of just enjoying the feel of it. Ultimately I don't think that's the point, and the distraction had a rather negative impact on my viewing. By the end I had kind of settled back into place, but it left me more conflicted than I otherwise would have been.
I don't feel like I need to rush back to watch this again, but it has left me strangely intrigued, so we'll see.