TROPICAL MALADY
Thailand, 2004, 118 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul
An unusual blend of the modern, naturalistic cinema with Thai mythmaking, the film suddenly breaking off from a modern story and moving into captions and voiceover for the myth. The two parts are related (with the same two actors in each part) and one needs to be thinking of both to appreciate the meanings - which will be demanding on many audiences, especially as the second part is so much slower and contemplative.
As a group of soldiers patrol a forest and take time off in the nearby town which has a multi-lane highway passing through and has its mall and aerobic classes, one soldier spends a day with a local man with whom he is falling in love. They eat, they go to the movies, they visit a Buddhist cave shrine, they go to a Karaoke bar_ Suddenly we are transported into the dark of the forest where a shaman, a beast in human form is ravaging the countryside. The soldier stalks the beast, intent on destroying it, especially as it feeds on others. But, can he kill the beast or will he surrender himself to it?
An opportunity to go into another culture and learn rather than enjoy.
1. The Thai style of the film? The two parts? The realism and the myth? Being juxtaposed? Each commenting on the other?
2. The jungle settings, the forest, the village and its old style, the town and its modern style with supermarkets and aerobic training? The mountain paths, the highways and many lanes? The contrast between the old Thailand and the new?
3. The importance of sound, especially in the second part, the sound of the beast, the sounds of the forest, mysterious sounds? Modern sounds, modern music, aerobics, CDs?
4. The title, the malady of the forest, the malady of the present, the myths of the past? Their intertwining?
5. The prologue: the soldiers on patrol, the photographs with the dead body, the forest itself? The soldiers on guard during the night? Their occupying themselves? The family, the old lady and the meals, the family all sitting around and eating? The young man? His place in the family?
6. The transition to the city, the young man, in the ice factory, wanting to make deliveries? His friendship with the soldier? The soldier, in the supermarket, talking about jobs with the man selling shoes?
7. The friendship between the two men, their being together for the day, in the shops, eating together, going to the cave, the Buddhist overtones, the lady who was guide, going into the tunnel, their fear to go any further? Her taking them back to town, with her friend, refreshments? Their going to the club, the lady singing, the karaoke? Going to the movies? The relationship between the two, the approach of the soldier towards the young man? The toilet, kissing his hand, the man kissing the hand in return? The approach in the cinema, the man crossing his legs? The return home, the place of each in the family? The soldier going again on patrol, his work? The young man and his staying at home? Waking up in the morning, the information about the cow disappearing? The soldier looking at the photos and the sudden transition to the second part?
8. Part two: the captions, the narrative, the completely different style from realism? The information about the mythology, humans turning into beasts? The soldier, alone in the forest? The long quiet sequences, his tracking the beast? The beast, the human form (and the naked man during the prologue)? His luring the soldier, the stalking, day and night? The sounds? The soldier with his walkie-talkie and the beast's fascination? Their eventual catching each other, the wrestling and struggle? The soldier enticed into the forest, his transformation, surrendering himself entirely to the beast? The sudden ending of the film?
9. The opening caption, the statement about humans being beasts, about humans having the capacity to check, to control, to channel animal instincts into positive behaviour?
10. The two ways of storytelling, east and west? The traditions of Thailand, meeting contemporary culture?
