Discussion with Apichatpong Weerasethakul

If ever a film called for close contemplation, it would be Tropical Malady, with its extraordinary fable in which the commonplace and the mystical mesh. Mystery, too, is at its core—in the journey from civilized space to jungle haunt, in the mercurial nature of the characters, in the veracity that underlies the two-part parable. With the insights only a director could possess, Apichatpong Weerasethakul will help us see the forest for the trees.

—Steve Seid