The Island Funeral (2015)

The Island Funeral 2015 / มหาสมุทรและสุสาน 2015 / Maha samut lae susaan

A story like a realistic dream by a filmmaker genuinely involved with the problems of her politically divided country, a country that is a tourist paradise but also on the brink of civil war. The protagonist is Laila, a young woman who travels from Bangkok for family reasons to the deep south of the province of Pattani. She does not go on her own, but with her brother and a friend. On the way, they pick up a soldier. Pattani is torn by a rebellion that has been dragging on for years and has cost thousands of lives. The Island Funeral is certainly also a road movie, with the symbolism that belongs to the genre: the real journey represents an inner journey. The film is the opposite of a political pamphlet. It tries to provide insight into the memories-in-the-making of a generation that has to find its way in a country that hides great confusion behind a smile. The journey does not end in paradise, but it does end in a wondrous world.