Tears Of The Black Tiger ( Fah talai jone )

Tears Of The Black Tiger (DVD) (*)

~~$30.99~~ $24.97

Original Title: Fah talai jone
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Vancouver International Film Festival
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
Australia ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
101 min

Aspect Ratio:
Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1)

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Photo Gallery
Scene Access
Trailer(s)

Movie filmed in 2000 and produced in:
Thailand ( India, Eastern Asia )

Directed By:
Wisit Sasanatieng

Written By:
Wisit Sasanatieng

Actors:
Chartchai Ngamsan ..... Black Tiger
Suwinit Panjamawat ..... Dum (Black Tiger Youth)
Stella Malucchi ..... Rumpoey
Supakorn Kitsuwon ..... Mahesuan
Arawat Ruangvuth ..... Police Captain Kumjorn
Sombat Metanee ..... Fai
Pairoj Jaisingha ..... Phya Prasit
Naiyana Sheewanun ..... Rumpoey's maid
Kanchit Kwanpracha ..... Kamnan Dua
Chamloen Sridang ..... Sergeant Yam

Synopsis:

In the countryside of Thailand, a gang of outlaws makes the region unsafe. Among them is the handsome gun hero Dum, who became unwillingly involved in the bandit life. Handsome Dum made a promise to his upper-crust lover Rumpoey: despite the class difference, they will get married. When the moment of reunion arrives, Dum gets involved in a fire fight and cannot possibly reach Rumpoey in time. She is desperate: her father has married her off to a policeman. The taciturn Dum, called the 'Black Tiger' by his co-conspirators, has however not forgotten Rumpoey. He does everything in his power to reach her, but fate gets in the way: his gang leader suspects him of treachery and his blood brother turns into his greatest enemy. Will the two lovers ever meet up? This urgent question propels the melodrama forward, supported by exciting music, spectacular shootouts and heroic duels.

One of the most elaborate productions ever mounted in Thailand, Tears of the Black Tiger is a candy-colored Western made in the high-energy style that characterizes much contemporary Thai cinema. The plot is a traditional boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-gets-girl-again story that references both classic American Westerns and Thai folk tales. Poor boy Dum (Chartchai Ngamsan) and rich girl Rumpoey (Stella Malucchi) first lay eyes on each other as children when her family escapes Bangkok to his country hometown during World War II. When they meet again ten years later, they fall instantly in love and decide to marry. But the disapproval of her parents and a band of rampaging bandits led by the villainous Mahesuan (Supakorn Kitsuwon) combine to threaten their plans for future happiness. -Tears of the Black Tiger sports paper-thin characters and a completely predictable plot, but the story is hardly the point of this exuberant pop-art confection. Director Wisit Sasanatieng, a strong advocate for film preservation in Thailand and clearly a rabid film buff, packs his film with winking references to the entire history of Westerns, from 1940s B-movies to Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name. He even quotes the famous opening scene from Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West. Sasanatieng's exuberant style, with its quick-cutting action scenes and close-ups of faces, guns, and bullets, certainly owes something to Leone, but what has given this film its considerable buzz at film festivals and in theaters in Europe and Asia is its sizzling neon-pastel color scheme, which looks like nothing else in cinema. Every shot is coated in dazzlingly bright turquoise and chartreuse, with pinks and reds so intense they nearly hurt the eyes. Sasanatieng achieved this effect by transferring the film's negative to video, then juicing up the colors as far as they could go before transferring the finished product back to film. The bizarre tone set by this visual scheme is augmented by the actors' performances, which are intentionally, and ridiculously, over the top. They even deliver their lines in what can only be described as a Thai variation on the Western drawl. An infectious burst of creativity from a director bursting with talent, Tears of the Black Tiger may finally bring overdue attention to a country that unfortunately rarely registers on the world cinema scene. -In the countryside of Thailand, a gang of outlaws makes the region unsafe. Among them is the handsome gun hero Dum, who became unwillingly involved in the bandit life. Handsome Dum made a promise to his upper-crust lover Rumpoey: despite the class difference, they will get married. When the moment of reunion arrives, Dum gets involved in a fire fight and cannot possibly reach Rumpoey in time. She is desperate: her father has married her off to a policeman. The taciturn Dum, called the 'Black Tiger' by his co-conspirators, has however not forgotten Rumpoey. He does everything in his power to reach her, but fate gets in the way: his gang leader suspects him of treachery and his blood brother turns into his greatest enemy. Will the two lovers ever meet up? This urgent question propels the melodrama forward, supported by exciting music, spectacular shootouts and heroic duels.

With its loud acting style, exuberant sets and stunning shots in pastel colors, this Thai cult film is as much a parody as an homage to the Western and the romantic tearjerker.

This product was added to our catalog on Wednesday 14 March, 2007.

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