Tears of the Black Tiger: Thai yai-yai!

Reviewer: James van Maanen
Rating (out of 5): ***

Some movies may be arty, different and interesting The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes immediately comes to mind) but not be all that enjoyable overall. Tears Of The Black Tiger manages the arty/different/interesting part, while providing enormous fun in the process. Much of this, I suspect, may be due to how little knowledge many of us western film buffs possess regarding the traditions of Thailand, its culture and film history. We may have seen some of the oddities of Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Tropical Malady), the martial-artsy Ong-Bak, a genre-jumping Beautiful Boxer or a gorgeous epic like Suriyothai (the Thai movies I can immediately bring to mind), and although the Hong Kong-born Pang brothers often film in Thailand and clearly have an appreciation of that country, this is not quite the same thing as being Thai. Consequently, when we see something as bizarre, colorful, and all-over-the-place as writer/director Wisit Sasanatieng's Tears, the experience probably approximates how viewing one’s first Bollywood extravaganza might have seemed at the time.

Coupling 1950 fashions, cars, colors and attitudes to a bloody, western revenge/love story from a century past (complete with western and pop music!), using obviously painted backdrops and a color palette that refuses to stint on day-glo and fuchsia, stopping the film dead to comment on a bullet's ricocheting trajectory, and filling it with performances from gorgeous Asian actors that would not be out of place in a silent movie (Supakorn Kitsuwon makes a particularly enticing best friend/villain), Mr. Sasanatieng has whipped up a bizarre combination of bread pudding and soufflé the likes of which I've not encountered till now. I will say no more (so as not ruin any of this moviemaker's surprise moments) except to mention that while I chuckled often and stared intently, afraid to avert my eyes and miss another weird instant, I was also, by the finale/denouement, oddly moved. I cannot call this a great film--even, perhaps, a very good one--but, should you regard yourself as a true film buff, you’ll want to queue up now.