Tropical Malady

Apichatpong Weerasethakul
2004

Festival darling Apitchatpong Weerasethakul weaves this opaque and intriguing arthouse flick with some partial help from a Thai folk tale. Presented in two parts the film begins with an unhurried romance between a soldier and his country bumpkin buddy. Part two finds the soldier alone in the jungle hunting/hunted by a mystical man-tiger. While it may be an entirely different animal, this film is a marked improvement from the only Weerasethakul picture I've seen previously "Mysterious Object at Noon" (2000), which I remember being admirable for it's lo-fi cinematography and experimental leanings, but generally tedious and uninteresting. "Tropical Malady" benefits from some thoughtful cinematography, with a particularly masterful emphasis on wide shots making a distant and mysterious film all the more enigmatic. Weerasethakul also manages to successfully and convincingly convert what is essentially an old-world fairy tale into the modern age without any conflict in tone. After this one I'm willing to accept, or at least understand why he's become such a big name in world cinema. I'll have to check out "Syndromes and a Century" (2006)