Yesterday i saw this beautiful Thai film - Tropical Malady and thought i should share it with you all. It won the Jury price at the 2004 Cannes Film festival, though the critics are widely dived on it, I thought it was one of the more spiritually enriching movies i have seen for a while among contemporary movies. This one reminded me of the Book "Life Of Pi" (which btw i love) only more edgier.

I hope they release it in US (maybe they already did)..., anyway this one is for all those who love movies both in content and style.

I purchased this one from ethaicd for 10.5 $ shipped and was well worth the price I paid ( warrants multiple viewing)

http://www.ethaicd.com/show.php?pid=16373



The DVD review is here (R3 PAL , not a bad DVD really )
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview ... malady.htm

Now even Thailand have started making good films, I just hope one day our Indian directors stop asking actors to run around trees and make more meaningful cinema !

Funny you bring up KAAL - its a fine example of how ridiculous our Indian cinema is, If KAAL is what you like then you will hate this one for I think of this as ANTI-KAAL , this film is pretty much on the opposite end of the spectrum. For the record its not an action/adventure film !

I don’t know about your movie taste so cannot comment on if you will like it or not, but if you are even remotely interested in surreal film(s) that are deliberately slow placed and beautifully photographed and films that will leave a lingering feeling long after you are done watching them then you will fall in love with it, for others its a pass (esp. for fans of KAAL !) .

The plot of 'Tropical Malady' doesn’t seem original; <-- carefull before you make such statements , esp. if you have not seen it. This could easily make it on the list-of-orginal movies made last year in world cinema .

Please note my post above - this is not a commercial film and at least has no traces of it, it is def not a supernatural mystery - I bet this is unlike anything you have seen (ever?) - I felt that way at least. Like I noted in my post above, this film will remind you of the book "Life of PI" - if you have read it you will understand what I mean. The movie is about rejection, self-realization, alienation, soul-searching, its really about human emotions and the devastating ride it can take you. in case you care its a gay film based in a very "tight" culturally rooted community (very similar to India and hence my post on ZULM).



I would like to know which meanigful indian cinema you saw that was made 'recently' ?

Sounds like “Reth” & "Tumhari Disha" on Zee-TV, if you can interpret the melodrama that way. The writer/director have good intentions for the serial, but it’s flaw is that it’s made for Indian Aunties, otherwise a nice drama 

Went a little off topic, how’s the dvd quality? Does it meet Hollywood standards? Or is it like, you know, our crappy dvds?

Its excellent ( dark scenes could have been better , but in these sorts of films its probably purposefull)

Full review of the DVD is here -
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview ... malady.htm

Sorry my friend - i hate to admit it but i dont watch TV, so no comments there. Infact I dont even own a TV now

Well another example of a bad-quote from an asian seller

Her is a quote about what it is

What exactly is "Tropical Malady"? You may find yourself asking this as the closing credits of prodigiously gifted filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul's third film roll. For that matter, the same question might come to mind when the opening credits appear unexpectedly after the elapse of nearly 20 minutes of screen time. In trying to re-conjure the experience of watching "Tropical Malady" for the prospective viewer, a phrase from Borges comes to mind: "It was like a dream someone failed to dream." Just as dreams hit heavy with the weight of imminent decay and fade quickly upon waking, I can't help but wonder if there's a way to fully translate "Tropical Malady"'s gentle narrative throb and multitude of intangibilities with any kind of integrity even if the attempt was made as the house lights went up. And how diluted is the purity of that experience when imagined now, writing on a laptop at the kitchen table of a small Harlem apartment, worlds away from verdant glistening greens of the Thai jungle?

The WWW is filled with info such as this

http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/2262/





Come-on Veer-Zaara

Other than 'The Warroir' (which is really not an indian production ) and Swades ( a honest but ultimately failed approach) - if thats your list of "meaningful" cinema, then from one filmfan to another - i would recommend you to branch out ( no hard feelings) , true cinema has long since left the shores of india, all we are left with is nothing but movies not cinema !

We will see how 'The Rising' turns out ( i am looking forward to it) .

don't worry. i used to mock my family for being glued to this crap. until they forced me to have dinner with them, and some of the episodes caught my eyes. I only watch 4 shows (other than Family Guy & Simpsons). 3 of them are on Zee/Sony, and the other show is LOST on ABC. Can't wait for season 2. I missed many episodes of the indian shows, but even having missed 2 months, they managed to keep my interest. I watch LOST regularly when the DVD is out, I'm going to host a pre-season 02 LOST marathon for Season 01

if you are interested, I can mail you 2 dvds of all the season 01 episodes of LOST in xvid hdtv rips

The Simpsons hasn't been good for nearly 10 years now, and FG is very hit or miss. The shows I watch these days are 24, Arrested Development, and various shows on Comedy Central like The Daily Show, stand-up comedy, and reruns of programs like Upright Citizens' Brigade and Mr. Show. Also I watch reruns of King of the Hill at times and Seinfeld.

I've only seen a few episodes of Lost, but it looks interesting. I will have to catch up with it on DVD someday.

Fear Factor is an occasional guilty pleasure. Ever seen people drinking a raw ostrich egg?

Tropical Malady looks interesting. It may be the next DVD I buy, at $10. The only Thai film I've seen is Legend of Suriyothai.

Looks like a R1 DVD is on its way

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=18445

looking forward to hearing the commentary track ....