Director:
Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Studio/Production Company:
Fortissimo Films
Genre:
Drama
Sub-Genre:
Thriller
Length:
Feature
Website:
http://www.invisiblewaves.com
Score:
3/5
In 2003 I came upon a film from Thailand called Last Life in the Universe. Though my experience with Thai cinema up to that point was limited to an un-subtitled version of Ong Bak I was interested in broadening my horizons. Being a big Tadanobu Asano fan I was naturally fascinated and intrigued by the prospect of seeing him in a Thai film. Add to the mix the ever-incredible Christopher Doyle working him magic behind the camera and I was sold. Directed by until then unknown by me Pen-ek Ratanaruang I really didn't know what to expect. Who knew that it would become one of my favorite films, opening up the world of Thai cinema to me (leading me to the works of Wisit Sasanatieng and Apichatpong Weerasethakul). A film of few words and understated beauty, Ratanaruang set the bar very high for his follow-up Invisible Waves. United again with Asano and Doyle expectations were through the roof. Unfortunately where their first collaboration swam with inspiration their latest flounders in it's own pretense.
The film follows Kyoji (Asano), a lowly chef turned murderer of his lover after his boss discovers he is employee is having an affair with his wife and hires him to off her as penance (and in exchange for his own life). The boss arranges for Kyoji to travel to Phukett and make a new life for himself. In his travels he crosses the path of a number of colorful international cast; a young mother (Korean starlet Hye-jeong Kang) who all but neglects her newborn for swimming in the pool, an underground "facilitator" (Hong Kong heavyweight Eric Tsang) masquerading as a monk, and the boss' Phukett based right-hand man (Japan's Ken Mitsuishi) known only as Lizard. Kyoji quietly abides but is obviously struggling with the choices he has made that have led him down this path. He moves through the world ghost-like, unable to find proper footing in his new life. It also doesn't help that he is met by misfortune at every corner, at first chalking them up to coincidence but slowly realizing that his boss is trying to eliminate him.
The major hindrance of this film is the use of language. Where as Last Life presented the barrier of language in a beautifully understated manner that was central to the overall plot of the film (especially emotionally), Invisible Waves is far to wordy and is hampered by the dialogue. The film is predominantly in English as it is the universal spoken language. The results are decidedly mixed with most of the dialogue being butchered by bad accents and pronunciation by non-native speakers. Asano delivers the bulk of his dialogue in English and though he performs admirably it does stifle his overall performance. It simply isn't natural for most of the cast and plays as such. Eric Tsang doesn't even bother and speaks only in Cantonese to which Asano responds in English. It's just not logical. I'm completely open to dramatic license but with such prominent dialogue that is needed to push the plot forward it becomes a sour note.
Ratanaruang's direction is also at fault here. He decides to linger too long on the unimportant far too often as if to add gravitas - when in fact there is just very little meat to the story. Sure there are some funny visual cues but they are few and far between. Is it really necessary to watch Asano as he wanders back and forth, to and fore as the camera stays static? Indulgent is the word that best describes the overall impression he achieves. It's bloated and at time pretentious. I'm sure some of that falls on Doyle as well, who's muted color palette in Last Life was perfect for that story but is out of place in this. The film could have been greatly benefited by a more diverse and colorful presentation to highlight the different countries and cultures. The score is quite subdued which works well for the story. One may not even notice it while watching and will be hard pressed to remember it after the film ends.
It saddens me that I can't really recommend this movie for anyone other than fans of the artists involved. The most interesting aspects of the film are asphyxiated by the prevalent faults. Hopefully Ratanaruang comes back stronger and more importantly tighter in his next effort Ploy. Though he has been slightly diminished by this film for me, he still has my respect and I wait anxiously for his next film.
Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Studio/Production Company:
Fortissimo Films
Genre:
Drama
Sub-Genre:
Thriller
Length:
Feature
Website:
http://www.invisiblewaves.com
Score:
3/5
In 2003 I came upon a film from Thailand called Last Life in the Universe. Though my experience with Thai cinema up to that point was limited to an un-subtitled version of Ong Bak I was interested in broadening my horizons. Being a big Tadanobu Asano fan I was naturally fascinated and intrigued by the prospect of seeing him in a Thai film. Add to the mix the ever-incredible Christopher Doyle working him magic behind the camera and I was sold. Directed by until then unknown by me Pen-ek Ratanaruang I really didn't know what to expect. Who knew that it would become one of my favorite films, opening up the world of Thai cinema to me (leading me to the works of Wisit Sasanatieng and Apichatpong Weerasethakul). A film of few words and understated beauty, Ratanaruang set the bar very high for his follow-up Invisible Waves. United again with Asano and Doyle expectations were through the roof. Unfortunately where their first collaboration swam with inspiration their latest flounders in it's own pretense.
The film follows Kyoji (Asano), a lowly chef turned murderer of his lover after his boss discovers he is employee is having an affair with his wife and hires him to off her as penance (and in exchange for his own life). The boss arranges for Kyoji to travel to Phukett and make a new life for himself. In his travels he crosses the path of a number of colorful international cast; a young mother (Korean starlet Hye-jeong Kang) who all but neglects her newborn for swimming in the pool, an underground "facilitator" (Hong Kong heavyweight Eric Tsang) masquerading as a monk, and the boss' Phukett based right-hand man (Japan's Ken Mitsuishi) known only as Lizard. Kyoji quietly abides but is obviously struggling with the choices he has made that have led him down this path. He moves through the world ghost-like, unable to find proper footing in his new life. It also doesn't help that he is met by misfortune at every corner, at first chalking them up to coincidence but slowly realizing that his boss is trying to eliminate him.
The major hindrance of this film is the use of language. Where as Last Life presented the barrier of language in a beautifully understated manner that was central to the overall plot of the film (especially emotionally), Invisible Waves is far to wordy and is hampered by the dialogue. The film is predominantly in English as it is the universal spoken language. The results are decidedly mixed with most of the dialogue being butchered by bad accents and pronunciation by non-native speakers. Asano delivers the bulk of his dialogue in English and though he performs admirably it does stifle his overall performance. It simply isn't natural for most of the cast and plays as such. Eric Tsang doesn't even bother and speaks only in Cantonese to which Asano responds in English. It's just not logical. I'm completely open to dramatic license but with such prominent dialogue that is needed to push the plot forward it becomes a sour note.
Ratanaruang's direction is also at fault here. He decides to linger too long on the unimportant far too often as if to add gravitas - when in fact there is just very little meat to the story. Sure there are some funny visual cues but they are few and far between. Is it really necessary to watch Asano as he wanders back and forth, to and fore as the camera stays static? Indulgent is the word that best describes the overall impression he achieves. It's bloated and at time pretentious. I'm sure some of that falls on Doyle as well, who's muted color palette in Last Life was perfect for that story but is out of place in this. The film could have been greatly benefited by a more diverse and colorful presentation to highlight the different countries and cultures. The score is quite subdued which works well for the story. One may not even notice it while watching and will be hard pressed to remember it after the film ends.
It saddens me that I can't really recommend this movie for anyone other than fans of the artists involved. The most interesting aspects of the film are asphyxiated by the prevalent faults. Hopefully Ratanaruang comes back stronger and more importantly tighter in his next effort Ploy. Though he has been slightly diminished by this film for me, he still has my respect and I wait anxiously for his next film.