take56:/Memoria/

Apichatpong Weerasethakul's "Memoria" (2021) is a mesmerising journey into the profound intersections between memory, perception and existence. It's a film that defies easy classification, existing at the boundaries of multiple cinematic traditions, philosophical explorations and formal experiments. With its minimalist yet deeply layered narrative, "Memoria" is not just a film - it is an experience, a sensory and intellectual puzzle that invites the audience to engage with cinema in a way that is both challenging and deeply rewarding.

Weerasethakul's films are often described as slow cinema, a style characterised by long takes, deliberate pacing and minimal plot development. In *Memoria*, he pushes these boundaries even further, creating a hypnotic film that often eschews traditional narrative structures in favour of atmosphere and mood. His camera lingers on seemingly insignificant details - a leaf blowing in the wind, the sound of the forest - allowing time to collapse and expand, creating an environment that feels both meditative and alien. His background in experimental and arthouse cinema deeply informs his work. He draws heavily on Southeast Asian traditions, blending mysticism, animism and folklore with modern existential concerns. His films, including *Memoria*, are less concerned with linear storytelling than with creating a specific emotional and philosophical texture. Like much of his previous work (*Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives*, *Cemetery of Splendour*), *Memoria* is a film that asks more questions than it answers, leaving room for the viewer to meditate on its meaning long after the credits have rolled.

Here, the sound becomes its own symbolic language, central to the film's semiotic structure. The film's protagonist, Jessica (Tilda Swinton), experiences a mysterious auditory phenomenon - a loud, disturbing bang - that no one else seems to hear. This auditory event serves as a recurring motif throughout the film, symbolising the inescapable presence of the past, trauma and a kind of existential dislocation. In semiotic terms, sound functions as a signifier, representing something that remains elusive and intangible.  In Memoria, Weerasethakul manipulates sound not just as a technical element, but as a way of communicating ideas that words or images alone cannot convey. The sound design, with its precise balance of natural and artificial sounds, functions as an auditory landscape through which Jessica (and, by extension, the viewer) navigates her inner world. This interplay between sound and silence, between what is heard and what is imagined, forces the audience to confront the limits of perception and memory. Jessica's inability to identify the source of the sound, combined with her encounters with others who either dismiss it or fail to perceive it, touches on a broader philosophical question about the nature of reality itself: what happens when subjective experience diverges from shared reality? The sound becomes a rupture in Jessica's reality, a marker of something inexplicable and unseen, aligning her with Weerasethakul's broader thematic concern with the porous boundaries between life and death, history and memory.

The film is deeply concerned with the nature of time and memory. Jessica's journey is not only through physical space, but also through mental and emotional landscapes, and her experiences seem to transcend linear time. In many ways, the film can be read as an exploration of the *Bergsonian* concept of time, where duration is seen as a fluid and continuous process that cannot be broken down into measurable units. Jessica's memory, like time itself, is elusive, fragmentary and non-linear. Weerasethakul often uses long takes and unbroken shots to reinforce the film's engagement with time. These techniques create a sense of temporal suspension, allowing the audience to experience time as Jessica does - stretched, distorted and dislocated. The slow pace of the film reflects the philosophical questions it raises: What is memory? How does the past shape the present? And to what extent is our experience of reality mediated by our internal perceptions? The film's final sequences, in which Jessica meets Hernán, a man who seems to embody both ancient memory and timeless existence, suggest a kind of metaphysical transcendence. Hernán's memory, which seems to span centuries, blurs the line between personal and collective history, suggesting that memory is not just a private experience but a shared, almost universal one. Through Hernán, the film raises questions about the nature of consciousness and whether our individual experiences of reality are merely fragments of a much larger, more interconnected cosmic memory.

"Memoria" clearly draws on the broader tradition of slow cinema, a movement often associated with directors such as Andrei Tarkovsky, Béla Tarr and Chantal Akerman. Tarkovsky's influence is particularly evident in Weerasethakul's use of time and memory as central narrative devices, as well as his attention to the spiritual and metaphysical dimensions of human experience. Like Tarkovsky, Weerasethakul uses long takes and contemplative imagery to evoke a sense of transcendence, inviting the viewer to reflect on the nature of existence itself. However, where Tarkovsky's films are often imbued with a sense of tragic existentialism, *Memoria* feels more open and mysterious. Weerasethakul's approach to memory is less about loss or longing for the past, and more about the fluidity of time and the interconnectedness of all things. His use of natural environments - the forests of Colombia, the rivers and the mountains - is almost animistic, suggesting that the natural world is imbued with its own form of memory and consciousness. Weerasethakul is also influenced by experimental and avant-garde filmmakers such as Maya Deren and Stan Brakhage. Like these filmmakers, he is interested in the ways in which cinema can alter our perception of reality, using abstraction and non-linear structures to explore the deeper workings of the human mind. *Memoria shares with these avant-garde traditions a focus on subjective experience, using the medium of film to explore the hidden, subconscious aspects of life.

It challenges traditional narrative structures in a way that feels both radical and refreshing. The film has very little in the way of conventional plot development; instead it is structured more like a series of loosely connected vignettes or meditations. There is no clear resolution to Jessica's journey, no climactic moment of revelation. Instead, the film ends on an ambiguous note, leaving many of its central mysteries unresolved. This rejection of traditional narrative closure is in keeping with Weerasethakul's broader thematic concerns. By refusing to offer easy answers or neat conclusions, *Memoria* forces the audience to confront the unknowability of memory, time and existence itself. The film's fragmented, elliptical structure mirrors the way memory itself works - partial, elusive and often contradictory.

The cinematography, by Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, is another outstanding feature of the film. The visual style is deliberately understated, with static compositions and long takes that draw attention to the stillness and silence that pervades the film. The camera often lingers on a single frame for long stretches, allowing the viewer to absorb the textures, colours and sounds of the environment. These extended shots give the film a meditative quality, encouraging contemplation rather than passive consumption. Weerasethakul's use of natural light and landscape is particularly striking. The forests, rivers and mountains of Colombia are not just backdrops for the action, but integral to the film's thematic exploration of memory and time. The natural world in *Memoria* feels alive, almost sentient, reinforcing the film's underlying sense of the interconnectedness of human experience and the larger cosmos.

As such, Memoria is a film that demands to be experienced rather than understood in the conventional sense. Its deliberate pace, minimalist narrative and profound philosophical questions may challenge some viewers, but for those willing to engage with its deeper layers, the film offers a richly rewarding cinematic experience. Through its exploration of memory, time and perception, it becomes a meditation on the nature of existence itself - a film that lingers in the mind long after the last frame, like the mysterious sound that haunts Jessica's journey.