Citizen Dog

Wisit Sasanatieng's 2004 Thai film is a surreal Bangkok fable. Pod, who lost a finger at a sardine packing plant, changes jobs; working as a security guard, he meets a tall maid who carries a mysterious white book. From there the story builds its own logic: people who grow tails, talking teddy bears, mountains made of plastic bottles. Sasanatieng's colour is oversaturated and digitally worked; the city is not real but looks like a postcard dream. That form is his way of describing the alienation of workers arriving in Bangkok from rural villages. The showy surface obscures the content for some viewers, but the density of visual invention is rare in Thai cinema. Who it's for: viewers who like Thai cinema, surreal comedy and visually daring films. Who it's not for: anyone wanting narrative consistency, or who will find the heavily stylised image artificial.