The Rafu Shimpo - L.A. Japanese Daily News

REVIEW
Pad Thai Western ‘Tears’ is as Campy as it is Long
By Joyce Tse
Rafu Staff Writer
Saturday, Jan. 27, 2007

When director Wisit Sasanatieng followed through on an impulse to explore an authentically Thai style of filmmaking, he took a chance that was discouraged by many of his contemporaries.

Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
Chartchai Ngamsan, left, and Supakorn Kitsuwon, play outlaws Dum and Mahasuan in “Tears of the Black Tiger,” a Magnolia Pictures release.

But Sasanatieng’s spaghetti western, “Tears of the Black Tiger,” a 2001 Cannes Film Festival sensation, is a surprising work that joyfully pays homage to the Thai films of old with its blend of slapstick humor, wild shoot-outs and a 1960s cookie-cutter ending that doesn’t disappoint.

It’s not necessary to be well-versed in Thai melodrama in order to appreciate “Tears,” the story of an unyielding romance between a peasant boy named Dum (Chartchai Ngamsan) and his true love, Rampoey (Stella Malucchi), who is the highborn daughter of a local politician and is engaged to a thickheaded police captain despite her feelings for Dum.

“Tears” opens with Rampoey waiting for Dum in a traditional sala, a Thai shelter built on the bank of a lotus-filled river, soon before her arranged marriage to the captain. Rampoey waits and waits for Dum (presumably so they can run away together), but he arrives long after she has left, giving up hope that he’ll come.

Moments like these offset the debauchery that results when Dum, who becomes “Black Tiger,” the fastest shooter in the East, joins a gang in order to avenge his father’s murder.

The plot of “Tears” is sincere enough, but it sometimes gets tangled in the outrageousness that builds with each developing scene. This includes the times where Sasanatieng has opted to shoot scenes against obviously two-dimensional backdrops instead of natural settings.

These garishly colored landscapes add to the film’s comedic and low-budget feel but are actually more than just a minimalist approach to filmmaking. They are rooted in Thai theatrical traditions of Likay, a type of folk theater still seen today at country fairs.

Sasanatieng also paid special attention to the coloring of the film. Beyond painting rooms bright greens and pinks or dressing characters in vibrant reds or blues, Sasanatieng went the extra mile to give “Tears” the same bright, oversaturated hues so familiar to old Thai films. Even after filming, Sasanatieng reworked the colors on video, tweaking color grading or even repainting the colors themselves before transferring the results back onto 35 mm film, giving “Tears” its dreamlike quality.

As entertaining as this film is—especially after one grows accustomed to the bombastic dialogue and over-the-top characters—it sometimes feels as though the film is content to ride on its comedic value and gratuitous bloodletting for far too long.

But then again, maybe it is this overindulgence in violence and outlandishness that saves the film from being just another dull story about star-crossed lovers and turns it into the rapid-fire action/comedy flick that it is.

“Tears of the Black Tiger” was released by Magnolia Pictures in New York on Jan. 12 and will open in Los Angeles on March 2, followed by a national roll out. Language: Thai with English subtitles. Running time: 113 minutes. This film is not rated.

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