Tropical Malady

Synopsis

Keng (played by Banlop Lomnoi), is a soldier assigned to a post in a small city in rural Thailand. The troops' main duties, it seems, is to investigate the mysterious slaying of cattle at local farms. While in the field one day, Keng meets Tong (played by Sakda Kaewbuadee). Later, Keng sees Tong riding in a truck in town. The two men have made a connection and embark on a romance, taking trips in the countryside.

Then one night, the country boy wanders off into the dark. The film's narrative abruptly shifts to a different story, about a soldier (played by Lomnoi again) sent alone into the woods to find a lost villager. In the woods, the soldier encounters the spirit of a tiger shaman (played by Kaewbuadee again), who taunts and bedevils the soldier, causing him to run through the woods and become lost and isolated himself.

Release

In Thailand, the film screened for just 10 days at the Siam Theatre.

Reception

At the press screening at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, several audience members left before the film was over and some of those who stayed until the end booed it. The film received generally poor reviews from such industry journals as Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, but then won the Jury Prize from the jury headed by Quentin Tarantino and has been generally met with favorable reviews since then.

Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine ranked Tropical Malady the third best film of 2005; the aggregation site They Shoot Pictures, Don't They has also found the film to be the ninth most acclaimed cinematic work of the 21st century and in 2016 ranked 52st on an international critics' poll of the greatest films since 2000.

Awards