User reviews

"War destroys the loser, the winner, and everybody involved" -- this opening quote from the movie establishes the theme. A story set during WWII, of a Thai woman who marries a Japanese officer for political reasons; she is caught between her growing love for her Japanese husband and the Thai resistance movement and her returning lover, Vanus. There are overtones of "Romeo & Juliet", interesting traditional music, beautifully photographed scenes of the countryside and the Chaopraya River, and a promise made beneath a tree.

Okay film which is much too long in telling a love story that's pretty predictable from the start. Political marriage idea is confusing as presented. Ultimately unsatisfying.

This epic story of a love between a Japanese naval officer (played by Thailand's biggest star Thongchai Mcintyre) and a Thai woman is Thailand's "Gone With The Wind". It's your typical tragic love story that has been told many times before, however Mcintyre was privileged to take on this role twice in his career. The first time was in 1990 in a miniseries version that was an instant success and lasted 26 weeks. And then 6 years later in this film adaptation that surpasses the predecessor in effects, set design and location, however lacks substance that was prevalent in the earlier version. One being the obvious reason that this was a 26 hour story summed up in two hours. However, despite the frown from audience goers in Thailand, the film went on to have international acclaim from Variety magazine and an interview from CNN. This was probably due to the fact that the majority of the world had never heard the story before. It was the first Thai film to have international recognition and English subtitles as well. Please feel free to email me if you would like to know more about Thongchai Mcintyre as I've done a documentary on his life that is mandatory studying at St. John's University for all Communication Arts majors.

Saw this film is a special showing and walked out halfway through. It is a pretty film, but the story is a little too slow for my tastes. Never really felt the characters were more than two-dimensional. First film from Thailand I ever saw. Impressed by the production values, but left cold by the characters. Too bad.