Fah talai jone

Actually I caught this movie on TV as I was about to go to bed, and

it grabbed me immediately. Sure, it's parody and genre, but it's

other things too. It is visually eye-grabbing for a start. The odd

candy colors are partly reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz and The

King and I, but the total effect is disorientating, colder, more high

pitched: its clashing colors dominated by the piercing fuschia red,

but sometimes slanting off towards yellows, or sepias and soft

blues. In European terms it's like seeing the paintings of

Pontormo and Bronzino - a Mannerist palette on film. There is, I

imagine a lot of filtering and digital enhancement here. It's

self-conscious but no more so than any consistent vision has to

be. So the color comes first.

Immediately, you are pitched in an alternative reality of westerns

(Sergio Leone mixed with Zorro) and romances, but comic as the

'western' scenes are, these are not merely 'cool' parodies. The

style everywhere refers to memory, of period, of genre: if it is irony it

is a strange poignant irony in the service of poetry. The palette

changes with the genre, as does the framing. Parts of it are

presented as scenes in theaters.

The story is simple enough but acute in its balance of belief and

distance. It makes sense as an adult take on the feel of childhood.

I thought it marvelously original, funny and alarming. Oh far far far

better than the vastly cerebral Greenaway whose work might make

a reasonable aesthetic analogy.

There has always been something rather absurd about the cult of the Hollywood western. The spaghetti Westerns of thirty years ago gave new life to a tired genre - and now we have the first Thai Western, a big improvement on Hollywood's efforts.

Wisit Sananatieng's film is wonderful entertainment. It takes the Western conventions and pushes them to the edge of parody. The gunfights are exciting, the film's central poor-boy/rich-girl love story is genuinely moving, and the harmonica-playing hero comes straight from the classic Gene Autry tradition.

To cap it all, the film is shot in the most marvellous saturated colours, so that it is at times breath-takingly beautiful. And some features unknown in Westerns - such as the lake with lotus blossoms, the pagoda and the rainy season - add to the film's visual beauty. In short, a film not to be missed.

Tears of the Black Tiger is one of those films that works so hard to entertain you, it is hard not to enjoy immensely, if only for its sheer exuberance.

The story is simple. Dum, the Black Tiger, is the best shot there is. He works for a ragtag group of mercenaries lead by Fai, whose motto is, "If you're against Fai, you die". When they capture the captain of the military group trying to shut them down, Dum has to choose between his allegiance to his men or honouring the wish of his old flame, Rumpooey, who is engaged to the captain. That's about it really, but the story is not the reason to watch this film. Its main appeal lies in its style.

Shot with the tone of a Western but in the style and colours of Thai theatre, it is beautiful to watch and often hilarious in its tongue-in-cheek over-the-topness. Shootouts are frequent and bloody, yet wholly unrealistic. Yet they are never intended to be. The opening sequence sets the tone perfectly. As Dum and his colleague raid the hideout of traitors to Fai, the film plays a particularly extravagant stunt twice, offering the title card "Did you get that? If not, we'll show it again!" in the middle, playing the same sequence in more detail.

The set design and colouring of the film is exaggerated and lush, all deep reds and greens. There are frequent musical interludes, but not in the Bollywood style, rather songs which explain the emotional state of certain characters, the high point being the main love song - ridiculously over-sentimental - and the cowboy-esque Bonanza-style riding song, a country and western inspired, cheery melody about loneliness.

The five main characters - Dum, Rumpooey, Kumjorn, Fai and Mahesuan - are wonderful. Dum is all emotionless precision and repressed feelings, a man of action who hides his deep-down longing for his former love. Rumpooey, the love interest, is quietly hilarious in that she just never seems to do anything, a knowing side-swipe to cheap melodrama of the 50's. Kumjorn is the dashing, slightly pompous good guy that you don't want to win, but don't want to die either. The two best though, are Fai, a classic machine gun and vest bad guy who has the films funniest shot in his first shootout - look out for it, its quite subtle - and Mahesuan, Dum's right-hand man, who has the best evil laugh EVER, using it whenever he gets the chance, also one half of an inspired shootout or two. His duel in the first half hour is also one of the funniest shots for any film fan.

It is a very violent film, but the kind of violence that is truly comic-book, overly-red blood (think cheap hammer horror), taken to a level of exaggeration which rather than making you gag, just makes you wince and laugh. And that is the point. Some people have said that is just terrible, but it is knowingly terrible. It is never attempting to be anything like high art. And in its badness, it is often beautiful and brilliant.

The only niggle is that it has a tendency to slow down a little in its lingering, slow shots, but never for more than a couple of minutes in what is only an hour and a half of mickey-taking, action packed hilarity.

Good looks, good sets, good idea, great fun. 10/10

Sackley

I've borrowed this DVD from the library twice before, but never had the chance to watch it, until now. The appeal is actually to see some of Thai director Wisit Sasanatieng's past works, before his up and coming made-in-Singapore flick called Armful. And I've heard some good things about this movie too.

The story combines two different genres into one, the first being a cowboy western, (set in Thailand no less!) and the usual star-crossed lover romance. Perhaps the novelty of the first genre type is having Thai folks dress up as cowboys, riding on their steed and somehow, becoming the villains as they plunder and kill. Yup, they're not the good guys, against the usual stereotype. Here, the cowboys are bandits, and the good folks are naturally, the cops.

But amongst all the bad hats (pardon the pun), there's always the hero who's forced by circumstances to join the group. Dum (Chartchai Ngamsan), also known as the notorious Black Tiger, renowned fastest and deadliest draw in all of Thailand, has a childhood sweetheart in Rumpoey (Sttella Malucchi). However, their difference in status (he's the son of a servant, while she, the daughter of the governor) meant that it's a forbidden romance to begin with. Knowing his place in her world, he could only admire from afar, becoming her protector, shielding her from harm (like numerous approaches by lechers and bandits).

A man gotta do what a man gotta do, and during one of his missions, he failed to meet up with Rumpoey presumably to elope, while she took it as a sign that he didn't want to. Like Romeo and Juliet, she's betrothed to Kumjorn (Arawat Ruangyuth), a police captain captured by Dum's notorious gangster boss Fai (Sombat Metanee). And like all star crossed lovers whose lives are played by Fate, these events start to spin and take on a life of its own, changing the course of our characters lives forever.

It's a beautifully shot movie, with plenty of pastel colours draping the sets, which at times make you cringe and beg for it to stop. As if to complement its saccharine sweet and sentimental love story, it elevates the movie to a surreal dream like level. The action sequences can be quite cheesy, with the reminiscence of old spaghetti cowboy western gun fights. But the best bits about the film, are the songs. I don't understand Thai, but even if without the subtitles interpreting the lyrics, I thought that they were beautiful enough to accentuate scenes in the movie.

Perhaps my only gripe about the movie in this version of the DVD, is that the bloody violence had been censored, depriving me the bloody glee of watching the Black Tiger dispatch his opponents with his accuracy. There were scenes where footsoldiers bled by the bucketloads of ketchup, but the crucial one-on-ones were totally censored, and you wouldn't know the nitty gritty details of the death. Truly marred my enjoyment of the movie. What gives?

Code 3 DVD contains some extras, like Extracts from the Book - Black Tiger's Philosophy and Rumpoey's Guilt, explaining a bit more about the lead characters, Insights into the Film Aesthetic takes a look at the Sala Raw Nang, or "Awaiting the Maiden", the quintessential Thai shelter, and how Rattana Pestonji (indie Thai filmmaker) had influenced the set design, especially the colours. The extras is topped off with a one static screen Director's Inspiration, and the list of awards which this film has won.

Tears of the Black Tiger is certainly a unique cinematic experience; part western, part comedy and part tragic melodrama, this Thai movie is perfect for those looking for an alternative to predictable Hollywood pap.

Dum is the handsome hero of the film, a member of the notorious Black Tiger bandits and a crack shot with a six shooter. Rumpoey is the love of his life, who has agreed to marry Dum; despite their class differences, she has arranged to elope with him. When Dum misses his rendezvous with Rumpoey (due to being caught in a gun battle), she is heartbroken and, under pressure from her father, accepts a proposal of marriage from Police Captain Kumjorn.

In a battle between the police and the bandits, Captain Kumjorn is taken prisoner; Dum is given the job of killing the policeman. As a last request, Kumjorn asks that Dum informs his fiancée of his fate and produces a photograph of his wife-to-be. On recognising Rumpoey's picture, Dum frees Kumjorn, but in doing so, he puts his own life on the line...

Stylish, funny and occasionally completely off-the-wall, Tears of the Black Tiger is an affectionate homage to Thai movies of yesteryear and Hollywood westerns. It is a strange mix, but it works. Only an occasional lull in pace stops this from being a wholly successful film, but don't let that put you off from watching it—the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Heavily stylised scenes and surreal imagery combine with over-saturated hues to produce a most aesthetically pleasing film; the look is reminiscent of musicals from the 50s whilst the occasional moments of graphic ultra-violence could be straight out of a Tarantino movie. Each character is perfectly cast and the comic-book approach taken by the actors in the realisation of their roles complements the overall style of the film.

Tears of the Black Tiger is a fun film that is destined to become a cult favourite amongst fans of bizarre cinema (and may even improve on repeat viewings, as with most cult movies).