I try to mimic the pattern of memory and of thinking and the randomness of life. It's like a journey. That is the main thing about the beauty of life; that you don't cram. And not only beauty, but also the fact that there is never a concrete thing in life.
Film is like a drug. It is a shelter when you cannot deal with reality.
For me, architects and film directors operate similarly. They are practical. As an architect, you know what you want in the conception of a space - but you still need a lot of people to help you out. You need an engineer, interior architects. But a film is the same - you have all these elements. But in terms of concept, it's always about time. When you approach a building, you need time to go from point A to B. Buildings are designed as a journey and films are the same, you have an opening that you come through, an angle you follow, maybe a disruption in space.
In a way, I feel that we're always connected, maybe you and me, we've been connected - not only now, but before. That's why we've crossed paths. And this manifests beautifully for me in fables, old television, novels in Thailand, but now we try to ignore these themes and stories. That's why now when we make "ghost" films, they have a certain stock quality to their effects, a certain formula, and I miss how it used to be.
The idea that we can operate in different times is very important for me. And it manifests in daily life or when you meditate. In a way, it's a very scientific thing that you experience for yourself, how time passes, how your body can react to time in different ways.
I feel like an outsider sometimes. Sometimes being more public makes me feel uncomfortable. I'll have people asking me for autographs in Thailand and I'll ask if they've seen my films and they'll say, "No, but I know who you are and I like the way you look - I like the skinhead look."
More than my other films, Uncle Boonmee is very much about cinema, that's also why it's personal. If you care to look, each reel of the film has a different style - acting style, lighting style, or cinematic references - but most of them reflect movies. I think that when you make a film about recollection and death, you have to consider that cinema is also dying - at least this kind of old cinema that nobody makes anymore.
For me, my films have already aged. When they're finished, I don't want to watch them. Of course, I feel protective, but I try not to attach myself to these stories.
