Tropical Malady

"Tropical Malady" by Thai film director Apichatpong Weerasethakul is a haunting film that at times seems impenetrable. The director has played a trick on the viewer by changing the mood and the pace right in the middle of the film. We are led to believe that the soldier and the young man that are clearly attracted to each other will go on to share a life together, but no, Mr. Weerasethakul takes us to the jungle where the soldier is trying to catch the elusive and beautiful tiger.

"Tropical Malady" has been promoted as a gay film, which in a way, it is, but basically it presents a mystery that is never solved, although we know that in this case, the soldier is so obsessed with his opponent that they end up respecting one another.

My only reservation with the film is the editing. It could have used a bit of cutting to make it more accessible. As a point of interest, films like this one tends to irritate viewers and one watches as how a theater empties out because people don't want to sit through any more. On the case of "Tropical Malady" no one walked out, which perhaps it's saying a lot for a film that can tax the viewer's patience.

The jungle scenes at night are magnificently executed and perhaps the director will have more success with his future undertakings as he shows a sure hand in his direction.

"Tropical Malady" from the Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Jury Prize in the last Cannes Film Festival, is a movie that really consume the inside, like a terminal disease. Every senses of your body will be over-excited, there is a TERRIFIC use of sound effects, that will render the tropical forest a living entity, intelligent, thinking, speaking. The contrast between the horrors and anguishes of modern time and the most charming folk legends , that awaken the most genuine human side from the bottom of our hearts is something quite unique and unforgettable.

It's hard to tell about the story without spoil it. Watch it, no matter what.

Having had a good think about the film after seeing it this afternoon, I still can't escape the feeling that there was a really excellent film in the subject matter and narrative elements, but that the director just hadn't quite found a way to get that film to the screen. Instead, he found a film that ultimately taxes most viewer's patience. There were some really lovely elements, I agree, but there is something about the editing that was just this side of over indulgent (and I happen to generally like long, loving, camera shots that are meditative!). The jungle portion of the film, IMHO, suffered from a lack of visual information in most instances (and yet this is one of the strengths of some the individual jungle scenes, like those of the tree, the tiger and ghost ox, where, just because of this unrelenting sameness, stand out marvelously). It could have been half the length and by virtue of that, twice as effective. Having said as much, I look forward to seeing more by this director, he clearly has a head on his shoulders and the courage to tackle difficult (yet rewarding) ideas.

"Greed is our downfall. I was watching Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The woman won a lot of money but wouldn't stop playing. She lost and only got 30.000 Baht."

"The tiger trails you like a shadow. His spirit is starving and lonesome. I see you are his prey and his companion."

The experimental creator of "Mysterious Object at Noon" is back with another abstract gem, "Tropical Malady." This time we have a 2-parter connected by common themes and metaphors, a la Wong Kar Wai's Chungking Express, equally casual but much slowly paced here. The first part of the film is set in everyday world. A gay soldier pursues a young country boy. The boy is most likely not gay, but he returns the attraction most of the time, probably because he is attracted to the soldier on another level (e.g. he is fascinated by the soldier's uniform). One day, while the soldier is flipping through the boy's photo album, suddenly the movie blacks out -- enter part 2, a story inspired by legends that parallels part 1, but from an alternative angle that makes it challenging to detect the patterns. Set in the dark tropical forest, the soldier relentlessly hunts a tiger ghost spirit for love, fear, or both (foreshadowed by a shooting computer game played by the boy who later appears as the tiger spirit). The tiger is fascinated by the soldier's sound device. The soldier is warned that he must either kill the tiger or be devoured by it.

Part 1 and part 2 are both about desire and pursuit, and essentially follow the same path. In both, the soldier makes great effort to pursue his passion, but it leads him nowhere. He is incompatible with the partner of his desire, so it cannot be satisfied in the case of a straight boy or a tiger. The soldier can be classified as greedy, and it will be his downfall. The 'fairytale-esque' romance in part 1 seems almost Utopian, but it's an illusion that cannot be sustained. In the end he will be consumed by his desires.

This is a powerful and challenging film with 2 segments, each providing a distinctive context to view the same patterns. With only 2 or 3 lines of dialogue in the second part of more than 65 minutes, it's a highly sensual and contemplative experience, where every drop of water, wind gently brushing the leaves, and sound of birds singing contributes to your senses. You can literally smell the mud in the fresh rainforest.

The photography is undeniably beautiful. The last shot of the film is sheer poetry that will take your breath away.

Don't watch alone... I saw this knowing nothing about it as my pal misread the programme for the Toronto Film Festival and our first choice was not on. So, knowing nothing about it I found it lavish but disjointed... a film that frankly missed and which I feel I could have made had I had the budget. It flattered to deceive and did not deliver on its introductory references to the beast in man and the gloss of civilization. Instead we were subjected to a very personal view which failed to communicate to those that did not already know what to expect and therefore, frankly, failed. Having said that it was a great travel movie showing me parts I regret I would otherwise not reach and a brave attempt to make a very un-commercial film about something obviously very personal where the temptation to resist to commerciality or superficiality was clearly resisted