Phantasmagorical realism in Memoria (Apichatpong Weerasethakul 2021)

Abstract

This article proposes a close analysis of the film Memoria by Apichatpong Weerasethakul (2021). It begins by situating the film within a broader trend in contemporary East/South East Asian and Latin American cinemas, which incorporates elements of the phantasmagorical into an aesthetics of realism. The combination of these seemingly contradictory concepts gives rise to a sophisticated interplay of temporalities. This interplay comprises the present phenomenological reality, layers of the past and the realm of memory associated with posthumous presences, and the unusual occurrences that may belong to the future. I refer to this phenomenon as ‘phantasmagorical realism’, a recurring theme in Weerasethakul’s cinema. This concept is partly influenced by non-European philosophies and belief systems, such as Thai Buddhism and Animism. In Memoria, this is further accentuated by intermedial connections with Latin American magical realism and Chinese classical literature, both of which are also influenced by non-European philosophies and belief systems, including Amerindian Perspectivism and Daoism.