Tears of a Black Tiger
Although I am currently living in the Netherlands, Dutch is very much a second language to me. I can cope with the essentials of life, such as ordering beer and pizza, but I’m still far from fluent.
Normally this isn’t an issue since most films are shown here in their original language with Dutch subtitles. I’ve even gotten lucky with foreign language films in the past, having seen both “Princess Mononoke” and “Tetsuo II” (still in their original language) with English subtitles. So when I saw that the Filmmuseum was showing “Tears of a Black Tiger” as part of their Films in the Open Air season, I contacted them to find out if I could get lucky for a third time.
The answer was no, but since it was a nice night and I’d heard some good things about this film, I thought that now would be a good time to find out whether the Dutch lessons had paid off. I even managed to drag a (English speaking) friend along by not mentioning the language/subtitle issue until he was clutching a beer.
There is a point to all this rambling, which is that, even with a slightly limited understanding of what was going on, we both had a great time watching this film.
There is another point to all this rambling, which is that, while understanding the gist of what was going on I may well have missed some of the finer points of the film (assuming there were any).
And now… on with the review.
“Tears of a Black Tiger” takes two genres that normally wouldn’t sit comfortably in the same film and seamlessly merges them into a story that is both dramatic and riotously funny.
Having been delayed by a shootout (and this is a spectacular opening scene, complete with an action replay) Dum, the titular Black Tiger, arrives late for a planned elopement with his childhood sweetheart, Ramphui.
Believing that she’s been stood up, Ramphui has returned home, upset and disheartened. So much so that she finally gives in to pressure from her father - the local governor - to marry the local commandant, Kumjorn. Of course, with Kumjorn leading the hunt for the outlaw Fai and his gang of Tigers, it’s inevitable that the paths of Kumjorn and Dum will eventually cross.
Kumjorn gets the drop on Fai’s gang while Dum and Fai’s right hand man, Meeshuan are becoming blood brothers - at least I assume that this is what they were doing. Watching a pair of Asian cowboys celebrating in a Buddhist shrine is bizarre, to say the least. But there was blood and much drinking involved, so we can run with this one.
Things are going well for Kumjorn until Dum and Meeshuan return and turn the tables, killing most of Kumjorn’s men in the ensuing rout and capturing Kumjorn.
After a fair bit of mutual back slapping and much maniacal laughter - which is something else that goes completely over the top in this film, neither Fai nor Meeshuan seem able to carry out or witness any criminal act without laughing throughout - Dum is ordered to execute Kumjorn. Inevitably, he learns that Kumjorn is to marry Ramphui.
Devastated, but believing that this is what she wants, Dum allows Kumjorn to escape…
“Tears of a Black Tiger” is essentially a love story - boy meets girl, boy loses girl, etc. - sympathetically placed into a Western setting. Sympathetically in that it incorporates themes (honour and vengeance against an essentially lawless background - the story of how Dum becomes a Black Tiger, told in flashback, is consistent enough to retain the audience’s sympathy even though he is one of the most feared outlaws in the region) and scenes (the shoot-out, the stand-off) that are immediately recognisable to anyone who familiar with the genre.
But then it goes a step further, placing all this against an unmistakably Thai background. It’s an odd effect, often causing you to look twice and recognize just how much you take for granted when watching westerns. This is exacerbated by the seemingly random use of weaponry throughout the film - mixing rocket launchers, automatic pistols and revolvers, often in the same scene - creating an air of timelessness; or, at least, defying you to get too specific about the period in which the film is set.
Then there is the colour… “Tears of a Black Tiger” is shot in gloriously bright colours - deliberately reminiscent of early colour film stock - giving it a surrealistic, dreamlike quality. And the sets play up to this, with blatantly artificial backgrounds perfectly matching the over the top acting and spectacularly gory action scenes.
“Tears of a Black Tiger” manages to simultaneously pay homage to and parody both western and romantic films. It’s also one of the funniest and freshest I’ve seen in a long time. So much so that I’ve ordered the DVD - what more can I add?
Monday 30 Sep 2002 | Paul Pritchard | Comedy, Western
