Tropical Malady

In rural Thailand a soldier, Keng, meets a village boy, Tong. The first half describes how that attachment is built: rides in the back of a truck, the cinema, an ice house, a month in which nothing is named. Then the film breaks in two, the titles start again, and the second half opens as though it were another film: a soldier in the forest tracking the spirit of a shaman who can take animal form. No link is drawn between the halves. The same actors appear, but the names, the events and even the genre change. The claim lives in that cut: desire that cannot be told turns into myth. The second half has almost no dialogue, only forest noise, darkness and a tiger. Apichatpong Weerasethakul wrote and directed. It played in competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival and won the Jury Prize, the turning point in Apichatpong's international recognition. Who it is for: anyone who likes cinema that plays with structure, Southeast Asian storytelling traditions, and Apichatpong. Who it is not for: anyone wanting a story to follow. The second half happens in darkness and silence, the running time feels long, and the film explains none of its connections.