The Paradise of Thorns

Thongkam and Sek have been together for years; they built a durian orchard on the hillside and worked the land together. Sek dies. Because the law does not allow two men to marry, the deed and the inheritance pass to Sek's family. His mother moves into the orchard with her adopted daughter Mo. Thongkam refuses to leave. They begin living in the same house and a quiet war runs over who the orchard will belong to. The harvest is near and the trees have fruited heavily this year. Naruebet Kuno directs. Jeff Satur, Engfa Waraha, Srida Puapimol and Harit Buayoi are in the cast. It is a Thai production. The matter it treats is a relationship the law does not recognise; the film puts inheritance directly as a legal problem. The film takes no side; the mother and the daughter each have a defensible case. The durian orchard is at the centre and the return on labour is shown as something concrete. The narrative slides from melodrama into thriller and hardens in the second half. Jeff Satur was known as a musician; the part here brought his acting forward. The film did well at the Thai box office and opened while the legal rights of same sex couples were being argued over. The narrative also describes rural family structure and the ownership of land. The ending gives nobody a complete victory. Its limit is tone; the narrative is long, the emotional pressure high, and some turns abrupt. Who it is for: viewers who like Thai drama and family stories built on inheritance. Who it is not for: it is heavy, tense, and the ending bitter.