Tears of the Black Tiger
Director: Wisit Sasanatieng
Year Released: 2000
Rating: 2.0
I had high hopes for this obscure, offbeat film from Thailand, which can only be described as Seijun Suzuki spicing up Douglas Sirk with bloodshed and bazookas (as disjointed a marriage as possible, I believe). The sets and cinematography are in a class all their own - the colors are vibrant and the backgrounds are gorgeous (a lot like Kwaidan) - but the screenplay, which is unapologetically and intentionally campy, all but completely turned me off (leaving me to admire the extraneous details but lose interest in the characters). I don't mind it if the acting goes over the top sporadically, but the performances here seem too self-conscious and unfunny, and the storyline is all over the place. To tell the truth, I am anxiously awaiting the death of postmodernism ... Vanity Fair declared it was over with the terrorist hijackings on September 11th 2001, but the real end appears to be nowhere in sight.
