A Study of Space, Time, Visual, and Audio in the Magical Realist Cinema of Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Abstract
This reseach aims to investigate how space, time, visual, and audio operate as key aesthetic and perceptual elements in Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s magical realist cinema. Through qualitative textual and formal analysis, this research examines three representative films, including Tropical Malady (2004), Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010), and Memoria (2021). The research objectives were to identify key space and time patterns in Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s magical realist cinema, and to analyze the role of visual and audio elements in constructing dream-like perception within a magical realist aesthetic. The findings indicate that Apichatpong’s magical realism functions narrative mode but as a sensory and audiovisual strategy of perception. Through the integration of space, time, visual, and sound, his cinema constructs a perceptual experience rooted in everyday reality rather than explicit fantasy, contributing to discussions of magical realist cinema and sensory aesthetics in Southeast Asian contemporary film.
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