Reviewed by Doug Cooper
Stars Nicolas Bro, Pimwalee Thampanyasan, Petch
Mekoh, Natee Srimanta, Somrak Khamsing,
Art Supawatt Purdy, Porntip Papanai
Written by Thomas Clay
Certification UK 15
Runtime 117 minutes
Directed by Thomas Clay
This second effort from writer-director Thomas Clay, who did The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael, is a decidedly odd affair that requires much patience. If you're looking for narrative drive or dynamic action, passionate performances or overt shocks, then give this a wide berth. For the first 85 minutes, shot in black and white, virtually nothing happens.
Overweight and sweaty Nicolas Bro shares a Thai apartment with petite and pretty (and very pregnant) Pimwalee Thampanyasan. They are a couple at ease with each other if not particularly affectionate. They wake up, he gets up, has a shower, checks his emails, has some breakfast and then pops out to the shops to buy her a cute toy, necklace and some viagra. She gets up, has some breakfast and then plays a game on her mobile. When he comes back they watch TV together. He then suggests they take a trip to look at some temples. They catch the train, book into a hotel, briefly chat to an old lady in the lift, and then go on a tour taking photos of each other. They also have dinner in a nice river-boat restaurant overlooking the sea. That's it - nothing remotely eventful takes place, yet the deliberate pacing of these mundane machinations have a weirdly hypnotic effect.
For the last half hour it changes tack. Shot in colour, it details a young man's return to his parents' home to collect his brother for committing a misdemeanor to the mob. He takes his sibling away and decapitates him, presenting said head to his mobster boss. It would be invidious to reveal how these seedy, sordid characters tie in with the sympathetic couple of before. Director Clay maintains a masterly control of proceedings, patiently taking his time while owing a slight nod to the work of Michelangelo Antonioni. Some will succumb to the naturalistic triviality and find it a rewarding experience, others will run away screaming with frustration. But Clay deserves encouragement. His tale exerts a strangely persuasive hold and his performers hit the just the right tone. Recommended, with reservations.