Anatomy of Time

Thailand, 1960s: these are troubled times, full of political and social tensions underlying the conflict between the military dictatorship and communist rebels. Young Maem, the young daughter of a clock-seller, finds herself in the amorous interest of two very different men: a quiet rickshaw driver and an ambitious, no-holds-barred army chief; the former is unceremoniously cast aside by the latter. Fifty years on, Maem looks back on her life, now that her husband has not only fallen into disgrace but is dying. It was a life full of happy moments, but also full of loss.

By switching between present and past, director Jakrawal Nilthamrong tries to dissect time, to determine how a life fits into a time period. What happened to his main character and what to Thailand? Nilthamrong himself wrote the screenplay for this philosophical and meditative drama, drawing on his own family history. Award-winning in Venice.