Tears of the Black Tiger (2000)

I actually saw this Thai film many years ago at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque. I remember that I enjoyed the film and thought it had plenty of cool stuff in it, but to be fair a good chunk of it has completely evaporated from my mind.

It took the movie about 6-7 to finally hit US screens. I had just watched Wisit Sasanatieng’s Citizen Dog a few days ago on DVD and totally loved it, so I decided to re-visit this film.

My impression this time was pretty much similar to last time. It’s a fun movie with a lot of cool action scenes and some cool visual choices. It’s not every day you get to see a pastel colored Thai western. It’s by no means a classic though.

One of the many similarities that Citizen Dog and Tears of the Black Tiger share is the fact that the director doesn’t bother to hide the cinematic influences that inspired him to make the films. In citizen dog he pays homage (or some would say rips off) the films of Wong Kar Wai and Jean Pierre Jeunet, and inTears of the Black Tiger it’s the cinema of John Woo and Sergio Leone (among others). These are also some of my favorite film makes so I saw both films as a loving tribute to these great directors. I also think Wisit Sasanatieng brings enough of his own charm and style to these movies to make them stand on their own. If I had choose though I would say that Citizen Dog is clearly the superior between the two. This is a good thing because it shows how his work has developed and progressed over the years. I’m really curious to see his latest film now, The Unseeable.

One funny thing that I noticed is that this time around I was more focused on the (over the top) melodrama than on the action. The underlying theme about how painful life is and how it just gets worse as you grow up hit me much closer to home this time.

Some cool gunplay in Tears of the Black tiger

~ by bettertomorrow on March 9, 2007.