Cinema
Tears of the Black Tiger
ฟ้าทะลายโจร
Wisit Sasanatieng · 2000
Synopsis
A farmer's son, Dum knew Rumpoey, the daughter of a provincial governor, as a child during the war, and promised to marry her despite the difference in their station. Having become a bandit in spite of himself, nicknamed the Black Tiger, he misses their rendezvous, held back by a shoot-out, and Rumpoey's father betroths her to a police captain. Dum tries to reach her, but his chief suspects him of treason and his rival in the gang becomes his enemy.
Context
Premiered at the Vancouver festival in October 2000, where it received the prize for best new director, the film was in 2001 the first Thai film selected at Cannes, in the Un certain regard section. Its oversaturated colours, overplayed acting and western-style shootouts make it as much a parody as a homage to the action films and melodramas of popular Thai cinema.
Who it is for
A subtitled Thai-language film, with deliberately emphatic acting; it will appeal to those who enjoy openly avowed pastiche and melodrama.
Prizes and reception
Peter Bradshaw, in The Guardian, praised this cowboy drama that had thrilled the Cannes audience.