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Kyoji inexplicably poisons his lover, the wife of his boss.
The following day he sets off, aboard ship, for an enforced
vacation in Phuket, however Kyoji's problems are just starting...
Invisible
Waves, directed by Pen-ek Ratanaruang (Last Life of
the Universe), from a screenplay by Prabda Yoon, is an
odd film to categorise. Part film noir, part surreal comedy,
the movie is like a collaboration between David Lynch and
Terry Gilliam. It is not a film that offers up much information
easily, the main thrust appears to be to create a brooding,
uneasy atmosphere, and in this the film does well.
The
film was made as collaboration between a number of countries
(Thailand, The Netherlands, Hong Kong and South Korea) and
this is reflected in the eclectic mix of both actors and production
staff. The Australian cinematographer does an excellent job
at capturing the film noir feeling for the film.
The
film is really split into three parts; the set up, the boat
journey and the arrival at Phuket. I say this as the first
third - the murder of the mistress, presumably on the say
so of his gangster boss - is fairly straight forward, right
up to the point where he boards the boat which goes nowhere.
If you're observant, you can spot that the waves don't move,
therefore the boat is not travelling anywhere. This could
be explained as movie making on the cheap, but I'd rather
like to think that it had a deeper meaning reflecting that
his escape is no escape at all. He is clearly witnessed getting
on the boat and the other passengers may or may not be working
for his ex-boss.
The
boat trip, itself is odd as more and more absurdly comedic
things happen to our hero, more than could be explained as
coincidence. The whole journey has a dreamlike quality to
it, which brings its reality into question. Once at Phuket,
things return to a relative state of normality as the story
wraps itself up.
The
film is presented in a combination of English, Thai, Japanese
and Korean and whilst I cannot comment on the delivery of
the film in the last three languages, the cast do a sterling
job when it comes to English.
The
picture is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic with an option for
stereo, 5.1 or DTS. For extras there is a small behind the
scenes featurette, the trailer and some film notes.
Overall
this is an interesting, if not wholly successful, movie. The
desire to create atmosphere over dramatic development is bound
to leave some people cold, for myself I though it was definitely
well worth a look.
Charles
Packer
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