Apichatpong Weerasethakul – About Politics and Spectres

Krzysztof Loska

krzysztof.loska@uj.edu.pl
Jagiellonian University (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4078-798X

Abstract

The work of Apichatpong Weerasethakul is considered as an example of engaged art, referring to the past, present and future of Thailand. The director does not explicitly speak about historical events, but uses an allegorical construction by means of which he allows the spirits of those who have passed away or were harmed to speak. The analysis of the political context is connected with the reflection on the presence of ghosts, therefore the methodological point of reference is the hauntology of Jacques Derrida. The French philosopher’s idea allows us to understand the role of ghosts in the works of a Thai artist. In his article, Loska focuses not only on Apichatpong’s feature films, but also on his video projects and multimedia installations, to show what haunting is and how it forces us to look at what is repressed from the official narrative, that is violence, cruelty and unresolved trauma.


Keywords:

Apichatpong Weerasethakul

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Published
2019-06-30

Cited by

Loska, K. (2019) “Apichatpong Weerasethakul – About Politics and Spectres”, Kwartalnik Filmowy, (105-106), pp. 205–216. doi: 10.36744/kf.58.

Authors

Krzysztof Loska 
krzysztof.loska@uj.edu.pl
Jagiellonian University Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4078-798X

Prof. Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, dyrektor Instytutu Sztuk Audiowizualnych tamże, wiceprezes Polskiego Towarzystwa Badań nad Filmem i Mediami, redaktor naczelny „TransMissions: Journal of Film & Media Studies”. Zajmuje się kulturą japońską i historią filmu. Autor publikacji naukowych, w tym dwunastu książek, m.in. Dziedzictwo McLuhana – między nowoczesnością a ponowoczesnością (2001), Hitchcock: autor wśród gatunków (2002), David Cronenberg: rozpad ciała, rozpad gatunku (2003, wspólnie z A. Pitrusem), Tożsamość i media. O filmach Atoma Egoyana (2006), Poetyka filmu japońskiego (2009), Kenji Mizoguchi i wyobraźnia melodramatyczna (2012), Nowy film japoński (2013), Mistrzowie kina japońskiego (2015), Postkolonialna Europa: etnoobrazy współczesnego kina (2016).



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