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THAILAND

Blissfully Yours- Apichatpong Weerasethaku
What at first seems to be a wry, neorealist film about Thailand's economic gloom and disenfranchisement enters the realm of the poetic when its characters-an illegal Burmese immigrant and the two Thai women who care for him-escape into the lush Thai countryside for an afternoon of picnics and sensual lovemaking. But despite their pastoral surroundings, an inescapable air of sadness hangs over these three, turning this sun-dappled interlude into a bittersweet affair. Winner of the Un Certain Regard prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival, this occasionally enigmatic, but always riveting film quietly tests the limits of feature filmmaking, combining beautiful photography, his actors' minimalist styles and a penchant for exploring unspoken emotions. The result is a delicately paced, deeply felt film exploring the connections, both emotional and physical, that bind three people together one languid summer afternoon. (125 mins.) Print courtesy of
Kick the Machine.
Filmography: Mysterious Object At Noon (00).
Showtimes: 2/21, 9:30pm and 2/24, 8:30pm BW.

Monrak Transistor- Pen-ek Ratanaruang
In this sweet and funny comedy, a musical of sorts, Pan is a singer who can't help falling into one misfortune after another, often of his own making. Separated (by fate and bad choices) from his true love, Sadaw, Pan must navigate a circuitous route back to her, achieving a measure of manhood in the process. Pan goes AWOL from the army to pursue a singing career, commits manslaughter while fending off his gay manager, and eventually winds up begging on the streets of Bangkok. Meanwhile the ever-loyal Sadaw gives up on him and allows herself to be seduced by a smooth-talking salesman, her own education in the ways of love, loss, disappointment and forgiveness as she debates her own future with the ever-present assistance of her domineering father. Ratanaruang's social-moral fable provides a realistic portrait of modern Thai culture where simple values wrestle with western modernity. (128 mins.)
Filmography: Fun Bar Karaoke (97), 6ixtynin9 (99).
Showtimes: 2/16, 1pm WH and 2/23, 8:30pm BW.


PHOTO - BLISSFULLY YOURS