In Sompot Chidgasornpongse's 9 Temples To Heaven, a Buddhist monk advises a family of merit-makers to visit his temple's gleaming new modern building. When the family expresses concern over the steep climb, a challenge to their elderly member, the monk beams: "Your mother can take the elevator to the top floor. You can fast-track her straight to heaven."
Merit, mortality, karmic balance and the socio-political intricacies of institutional faith -- these are some of the themes explored in 9 Temples To Heaven, a Thai film making its world premiere today in the Directors' Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival.
Sompot, known for his experimental and documentary films, ventures into fiction filmmaking with a story about a family whose multi-generational members ride around in a van to make merit at nine temples, a spiritual excursion that will supposedly bring blessings upon their ailing matriarch.
