Friday, March 20, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Tropical Malady
Tropical Malady is a Thai film directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Weerasethakul defies the grid in the sense that the narrative does not follow a strict chronological order, nor does it obey the restrictions of a particular genre.
Tropical Malady is about 2 men who develop a romantic relationship. The first half of the film is relatively straightforward, but there is some foreshadowing of the ambiguity and mysteriousness to come. In the opening scene soldiers pose for photos with a dead body they found in the wilderness. Later a naked man is seen running through the area where the soldiers found the body. The identity of the dead person or mode of death is not revealed, but the soldiers spend the night with an older couple and their grandson, Tong. Keng is attracted to Tong. It becomes apparent that Keng has been involved with many men, and he seems to be the pursuer in the relationship with Tong. Tong is a bit shy or naïve. The relationship progresses. Keng stops wearing his military fatigues, but Tong is sometimes seen in the city wearing fatigues. Tong’s grandmother takes them to visit a cave, where they are invited to crawl through a small, dark tunnel that could be deadly. Tong wants to go, but Keng balks and they leave the cave. The film segues into the mythical second half, as Tong walks away disappearing down a road into darkness. Keng is a soldier again and is hunting a monster that has been killing cows and villagers. The camera follows the soldier closely through the jungle, giving the impression that he is being pursued. It becomes apparent that Tong is the monster, a werewolf-like human/tiger creature. The soldier catches up to the ghost and they wrestle in a way that is more playful than combative. This scene takes place in a grassy area that appears to be the same place where the body was found at the beginning of the film. Shortly after the wrestling scene Keng discovers the body of a dead cow, foreshadowing his own death. Time is conflated and confused as shots of Keng perched in a tree appear both at the beginning and toward the end of the jungle sequence. At the end, Keng ends up crawling on all fours and the monster appears perched on a tree branch, while Keng is on the ground below.
I see a gap or crack in the shifting of rolls between pursuer and pursued that happens during the second half. Between the action, there are many longer takes of the dark jungle environment. Interspersed throughout the jungle sequence are illustrated, storybook images and a narrated myth. As Keng faces difficulty in the hunt a monkey tells him that either he must kill the beast or let it kill him and become a beast himself. In the end, while on the ground below the tiger he says, “I give you my spirit, my flesh and my memories. Every drop of my blood sings our song. A song of happiness. Do you hear it?” My interpretation of this statement is that Keng is surrendering himself completely to the relationship with Tong. He has transformed from his former promiscuous lifestyle to a deeper relationship. Rather than turning away from the unknown darkness, as he did in the cave, he gives himself up to it.
Tropical Malady is about 2 men who develop a romantic relationship. The first half of the film is relatively straightforward, but there is some foreshadowing of the ambiguity and mysteriousness to come. In the opening scene soldiers pose for photos with a dead body they found in the wilderness. Later a naked man is seen running through the area where the soldiers found the body. The identity of the dead person or mode of death is not revealed, but the soldiers spend the night with an older couple and their grandson, Tong. Keng is attracted to Tong. It becomes apparent that Keng has been involved with many men, and he seems to be the pursuer in the relationship with Tong. Tong is a bit shy or naïve. The relationship progresses. Keng stops wearing his military fatigues, but Tong is sometimes seen in the city wearing fatigues. Tong’s grandmother takes them to visit a cave, where they are invited to crawl through a small, dark tunnel that could be deadly. Tong wants to go, but Keng balks and they leave the cave. The film segues into the mythical second half, as Tong walks away disappearing down a road into darkness. Keng is a soldier again and is hunting a monster that has been killing cows and villagers. The camera follows the soldier closely through the jungle, giving the impression that he is being pursued. It becomes apparent that Tong is the monster, a werewolf-like human/tiger creature. The soldier catches up to the ghost and they wrestle in a way that is more playful than combative. This scene takes place in a grassy area that appears to be the same place where the body was found at the beginning of the film. Shortly after the wrestling scene Keng discovers the body of a dead cow, foreshadowing his own death. Time is conflated and confused as shots of Keng perched in a tree appear both at the beginning and toward the end of the jungle sequence. At the end, Keng ends up crawling on all fours and the monster appears perched on a tree branch, while Keng is on the ground below.
I see a gap or crack in the shifting of rolls between pursuer and pursued that happens during the second half. Between the action, there are many longer takes of the dark jungle environment. Interspersed throughout the jungle sequence are illustrated, storybook images and a narrated myth. As Keng faces difficulty in the hunt a monkey tells him that either he must kill the beast or let it kill him and become a beast himself. In the end, while on the ground below the tiger he says, “I give you my spirit, my flesh and my memories. Every drop of my blood sings our song. A song of happiness. Do you hear it?” My interpretation of this statement is that Keng is surrendering himself completely to the relationship with Tong. He has transformed from his former promiscuous lifestyle to a deeper relationship. Rather than turning away from the unknown darkness, as he did in the cave, he gives himself up to it.
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