Obsesiones tormentosas

Sad coming of age story about a boy, Jan Dara, and the effect that his father's abuse and sexual depravity eventually has on him. Well written and acted. Beautifully filmed with an exquisite musical score. Very high production values for a Thai film.

Movies with sensual theme have not been made very well made until "JanDara". Unfortunately, the movie has been cut, chopped, diced and sliced heavily by the censorship committee that the real impact of the story was loosened somewhat. However, the plot by itself is still entertaining enough to deserve a viewing. The film was very well crafted but will some minor flaws; acting seems inconsistent among actors as is film editing. There's nothing new in the cinematography area but the music is excellent, though some sections do have resemblances to "Bad Land", a movie made in the 70's. Despite the movie's retro-setting, I do not particularly like the use of sepia-toned in the film because it distances the characters from the audiences.

The story line is very well combed and has a few plot twists along the way to its climactic revelation. The dark side of the Thai cultures were exploited with added flavoring, though some might argue that it's totally fictitious, the story could very well be true. Sexuality is a taboo in Thai culture, and could be a little awkward for Thais to be absorbed by the movie, but the film could do very well in the 'art house and international' category. Just leave the film as director intended.

This Thai film tells the story of a young boy named Jan whose mother dies in childbirth. The boy's 'father' seems to hold a very strong hatred for the child and does not pass an opportunity to mistreat him. As he becomes of age, he starts to learn about life and sexuality. His view of sex becomes more like a sport. And as he continues his life he starts to become more and more like the person he despises the most – his 'father'.

This film is told as a narrative and explores the customs, taboos and traditions that many societies bare. As we get deeper into the film, we begin to understand the pressures Jan is faced with and consequences of his actions.

In the end as he begins to understand his origins, we also understand why his 'father' hates him so much and why his aunt Waad seems to love him as he were her own.

Overall, this film is a dark melodrama filled with high sexual tension, depravity and moral decay and is definitely not for the conservative and religious zealots.

This film was very controversial when it was released in Hong Kong. Not only was it the first movie which Christy Chung's (who is very famous in Hong Kong) first erotic film, it also supposedly starred a 15 year old teenage man. Later the age issue was cleared up and the guy was actually 17 when he made the film.

Anyway, back to the film. It was a story which had a bit of everything. Family tension, love, aggressiveness, revenge, rape, hatred. This is not just erotica, but in fact a tragic story of a man's childhood.

I thought the acting was good. The father's anger, the sister's aggressiveness were portrayed beautifully. The scene when Jan Dara rubbed onto the Night Mistress' breast was hilarious!

If you are not disturbed by the complicated sexual relationships in the film then this movie is enjoyable. It gives the audience something to think about, especially raising the awareness of the public towards the rape victims.

Whilst the prospect of Christy Chung getting kitless wasn't exactly horrible to me, it was rather the fact that JAN DARA was directed by the consistently excellent Nonzee Nimibutr that landed the DVD in my shopping cart.

Poor Jan Dara has a bad start in life - his mother dies in childbirth, and his father hates him thereafter as a result (or maybe just because he's an unpleasant person at heart). Not a great household to be growing up in in the 1920/30/40-ish years in which Jan is a young boy. But as he reaches young man age, the affluent household seemingly full to the brim of luscious females does turn out to have some benefits.

The movie is about Jan's early life, and particularly about his early sexual experiences - and the sexual experiences of everyone around him for that matter. This is one of those movies that makes me feel that everybody in the world is having more sex than me (admittedly, every movie from Mary Poppins up has that effect - it's just the movies, right?). The characters here hop into and out of each others beds with such frequency and complexity that it's like they're the pieces in a game of sex-chess or something. Former Miss Hong Kong Christy Chung is just one of a bevy of pretty ladies who end up on their backs for half the movie.

But JAN DARA is far from a bedroom farce - Nonzee Nimibutr is a film maker with much more skill, class and brains than that. Actually it's taken from a Thai novel, and it does feel very novelistic - quite high brow (though down-beat). The characters are very well developed and explored, and the period setting is loving realised with great cinematography. Totally excellent soundtrack too.

Ultimately JAN DARA is not a happy movie - there's a viciousness in his family environment that leads to basically unhappy people all round most of the time. One can hardly blame them for trying to screw themselves into a coma in search of a little respite from the gloom. Though not happy, it is very enjoyable however - because it's a well written, well directed, well acted and generally very well made piece of film. That and all the sex :))