Nang Nak

When I first studied in the university for movie productions, I was taken away by Bram Stoker's Dracula, the beautiful settings and play of shadows. I thought that all such romantic horror films should take on similar cinematography to make the film beautiful.

However, when I watched Nang Nak after graduation, I really salute to the director for making such a beautiful story. The story behind the legend was true, and it was the perfect choice of the director to choose the production of this film as a love-story instead of a horror movie.

Basically it all started out of love, the love of a woman to her man, bearing his child and yet, before they could get together again as a family, they had to be separated by heaven and earth as she dies during child birth. The female lead did a wonderful job to be so constrained, so soft and almost to the point of pitiful loving which makes it truly understandable why she could not leave her husband despite her death.

To intensify her longing to be with her husband, we saw how she was robbed off her belongings at the point of her death while she was giving birth, a young woman who had to bear the pain of childbirth without the support of her husband by her side. During that time, there were no modern hospital facilities and giving birth in itself is a dangerous labor of love. Her courage beaten, her life taken, and yet she had not been able to see her husband for the last time.

It is no wonder that such a loving woman would bring her child along with her to meet with her husband once more, just so that they can live together again as a happy family. Everyone in this world hopes for such a happy family life and yet this very basic human right had been taken away from her. Despite her coming back to haunt the village, as a viewer I can only pity her for her everlasting love for her husband and her strong will to keep herself within this realm of existence just to be with him, defying all laws of nature.

"Nang Nak" is set in the late 1860s and is based on a Thai legend of the supernatural. When war comes to Thailand, a young husband, Mak, leaves his newly pregnant wife and goes off to fulfill his duty as a soldier. A serious wound leaves Mak convalescing in Bangkok for many months, but eventually he becomes strong enough to return home. There he reunites with his devoted wife, Nak, and finally sees their infant son. However, it soon becomes evident that Nak's labor pains caused a singular transformation in her. The other villagers have come to fear Nak--and for good reason.

"Nang Nak" set box office records in Thailand when it was released in 1999. It even managed to outsell James Cameron's "Titanic" in that country, and it is easy to see why. Filmed among menacing rivers and lush jungles, "Nang Nak" is a visually stunning film grounded in a solid story line. From the beautiful shots of Thailand's flora and fauna to the chilling supernatural scenes (which occasionally have the slightest--and rather surprising--hint of Sam Raimi's distinctive cinematic style), director Nonzee Nimibutr immerses his audience in an enchanted world. If the film can be criticized for one thing, however, it may be said that the devotion paid to Image is too zealous. The actors chosen for the two lead roles sport close-trimmed modern hairstyles and ideal physiques, and this works against their credibility as village peasants. Also, some of the most evocative nature sequences in the film are edited too aggressively; hence these images are denied some of the power they might have achieved in the hands of, say, Werner Herzog or Terrence Malick. Even so, "Nang Nak" has plenty of power and poetry to spare.

(A cultural/historical note: The unusual and rather startling blackened teeth of the villagers in the film are due to the practice of chewing beechnuts. Notice that at a certain point in the film one of these nuts is placed in a corpse's mouth as it is prepared for burial.)

As always, I never bothered to check any movies that would force me to READ - the subtitle that is any foreign language other than English. Nang Nak was introduced to me by my wife... It is because the publicity in the newspaper telling about how this movie has made an impact at one of the European countries movie awards - it's a horror movie but with strong love story message. (How scary, indeed!).

Infact for a moment (till the labouring scene)... I was still doing my work while my wife kept on yelling at me every five minutes to join her...

So, I was kind of surprised how good the movie was. Especially the scene when Mak took a refuge in the monastery and Nak followed him there. The most scary part is when she hung on the ceiling....

Me and my wife had a trouble for a moment to even try to glance at our own house ceiling!

Nang nak.... is GOOD! (I'll watch it from the beginning this sunday...) FROM : LELAKILAH

Nang nak had been made for many times in Thailand both for TV series and films. Therefore, most of them express the scary part of Nak but they don't mention anything about her deep true love to Mak. So I think this version is very touching and great. I love it. Though, there were many versions made but none of them gives good facts like this one. Two thumbs up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In 1868, Mak (Winai Kraibutr) is summoned to the war and leaves his beloved wife Nang Nak (Intira Jaroenpura), who is pregnant, alone in their isolate house in Prakanong. Mak fights with his friend Prig that dies while Mak is seriously wounded. He miraculously survives and after a long time, he returns to Prakanong.

He meets Nak and their son and they live happily together until the day that a friend of Mak visits him and tells that Nak had died in the delivery and he is living with the ghost of his wife and his stillborn son. Mak does not believe on his friend until the day that he discovers the truth about his family.

"Nang Nak" is a movie about a Thai legend of a faithful wife that dies but does not live the world of the living waiting for her beloved husband that is missing in action in the war. The story of eternal love is a touching ghost story with a melodramatic farewell in the end. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Vidas do Além" ("Lives from Beyond")