Apichatpong Weerasethakul, whose erotic slow-burner Blissfully Yours won an award in the Un Certain Regard category at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, will return to the festival this year to premiere his new film, Tropical Malady.
It's a first for the Thai industry - having a film competing for the Palme d'Or. Thai movies had previously been invited to Cannes, but only to compete in second-tier categories. No Thai films were shown at the festival in 2003.
The first Thai film to be shown at Cannes was in 2001. It was Tears of the Black Tiger, which competed in the Un Certain Regard categories.
Tropical Malady tells the story of a gay man's search for his lover, who is transformed into a tiger while walking in a forest.
"It's not a fantasy movie, and it's not a drama," Apichatpong told the Bangkok Post in an interview from his home in Khon Kaen.
The 125-minute movie fuses horror into its sexual-political plot, Apichatpong said. It explores a passionate relationship between two men that has unusual consequences.
The film stars new faces Sakda Kaewbuadee and Banlop Lomnoi. Produced by France’s Charles de Meaux, it received funding from Thailand, France, Germany and Italy.
“I feel like swimming in the sea, after one hard year making this film,” the director told The Nation.
The new film is the second one for on the festival circuit this year for the director. Apichatpong's gay spy comedy, The Adventure of Iron Pussy, was selected for the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year. That movie, shot in digital format, likely won't ever see a general release in Thailand, due to its subject matter. It was scheduled for the Bangkok International Film Festival, but pulled at the last minute. It has been shown for small, unadvertised art-gallery gatherings, though.
As much as I admire Apichatpong for his daring, I would have liked to see some other Thai films in the festival, like Ai-Fak. Hopefully Ai-Fak will be featured at other festivals in the next year or so.
Also of interest to Asian film lovers at Cannes will be the new film by Wong Kar-Wai, 2046. Details about it are hard to come by, as it is difficult to get the director to say what his film is about. And even after watching his films, it's still tough to explain. The provided link goes to a China Daily story that managed to get him to talk. Briefly, it's a sci-fi story about Hong Kong, 50 years after the 1997 handover of the British colony to China. It stars the usual suspects, Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung, as well as Zhang Ziyi as a robot looking for love. Gong Li also is reportedly in the cast.
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