Thai film pulls off Cannes shock

It beat British director Mike Leigh’s Another Year, which was seen as the favourite by many at the French event.
Directed by Apichatpong Weerase-thakul, the winning film is about a dying man who is visited by his late wife and his missing son, who has become an ape.
US director Tim Burton led the jury that picked the victor from 19 entries.
Uncle Boonmee is played by Thanapat Saisaymar, a roof welder from north-east Thailand whose previous acting experience was limited to TV commercials.
Suffering kidney failure, the character is visited by a selection of spiritual beings, both human and animal, as the director uses a dreamlike style to examine the themes of reincarnation and animism.
Variety magazine described it as “wonderfully nutty”, while Screen International called it “a beautifully entrancing film . . . simple in story, but complex in structure and subtext”.
The UK’s Telegraph newspaper gave it a five-star review, noting it was “barely a film; more a floating world”.
Accepting his trophy, Weerasethakul said: “I would like to thank all the spirits and all the ghosts in Thailand who made it possible for me to be here.” — BBC.