Macabre Case, OK Baytong at NY Asian Film Fest

Nonzee Nimibutr's Buddhist-Muslim conflict tale, OK Baytong and The Macabre Case of Prompiram, the Thailand National Film Association's best film winner of 2003, will be shown at the New York Asian Film Festival, which runs from June 18 to 27.

Macabre Case, written and directed by Manop Udomdej, is based on a 1977 murder case that took place in a remote village, where a young woman was found strangled to death. She had been raped. Two local cops pieced together what happened, and the film follows them as they go step-by-step on their plodding way, trying to uncover a crime that's darker than anything they ever imagined.

I missed this film when it played last year. It's out on DVD in Thailand, but as is common with most local DVD releases, it does not have English subtitles.

The Village Voice has this to say about Macabre Case:

The Thai film Macabre Case of Prom Pi Ram (2003) isn't a genre skin-crawler, but a clumsy true-crime look at a 1977 murder that unfolds, chillingly, into a portrait of backwater inhumanity.

OK Baytong was just added to the schedule, according to the New York Post.

It is described in the article as a "supernatural thriller", but it really isn't. Part comedy, part drama, it's about a monk who leaves the temple after his sister is killed in a train explosion. He must move to Thailand's Muslim south to take care of the family's affairs, which includes him taking over his sister's hair salon and taking care of her daughter. A monk since he was a young boy, he is suddenly confronted by all these crazy feelings -- lust, love, hatred, fear.

Here's what festival organizer Grady Hendrix tells the Post:

Baytong was a last-minute choice. Brian Naas, one of the guys who works with us, saw it and called me about midnight, and said we had to show it. He's putting up his own money to bring it over.

He also had this to say about Macabre Case:

Prom Pi Ram is a really intense film based on the true story of a murdered woman who was found in this tiny village, and nobody knows who she is. It's just mind-blowing in terms of horrifying.

The strange thing is the [male] director is a devout, devout, devout Catholic and a radical feminist. His basic feeling is that men are animals and all they do is victimize women.

A thread on the Rotten Tomatoes Critics Discussion Forum is seeking recommendations and has more reviews.


More information:

• Review of Macabre Case on Critics' Discussion Forum.
• Review of OK Baytong on Critics' Discussion Forum.