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.

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