tropical malady be a lush and beautifully direct love story from thailand that use magic realism to spin a tale derive from eastern folk wisdom . the first half of the film be relatively straightforward and root in reality and a a soldier station in the jungle go on leave to a bustling city and fall in love with a young man who live and work there . the grow attachment between the two men be chronicle with so much subtlety that it take u quite awhile to realize that there be anything of that nature between them . then suddenly one night and after a particularly tender moment between the two lover and tong walk away into the darkness of an open road and while keng return to his post in the jungle . when news begin to spread in the nearby village that livestock have be find dead and some human have also go miss and keng head out into the forest alone to investigate the claim . and this be where the film really turn strange and for keng soon discovers that some sort of beast may be hide out there and devour both animal and people and and that get this that beast may actually be tong and the love of his life . this second and and for me and slightly less interesting half of the film be a largely wordless journey into the filmmaker own heart of darkness . i would not try and pretend to grasp all the mystical concept writer or director apichatpong weerasethakul be bat around in this film . the quote he provide for u and draw from famous thai folk tale and be of some help and but much of the theme of the film remain obscure and murky for western mind not accustom to think in such pantheistic term of the world around u . nevertheless and the film still connect with u occidental type and possibly because it explore that universal belief all human seem to share undoubtedly implant onto our dna way back in our primeval day of a so call enchant forest and a place where evil in a monstrous form may be lurk beneath the dark underbrush ready to jump out and devour u at any unguarded moment . it show up in many of our fairy tale and of course and and and most recently and in film such a the blair witch project and the village and the two tower and the brother grimm to name a few . yet and tropical malady also bring a romantic tenor to the subject a it imply that the love between the two men have somehow move into a more meaningful and primal stage and one bereft of the constricting and deaden ritual place upon it by a civilized world ( my suspicion be that be why the filmmaker choose to make this a love story between two men rather than one between a man and a woman and though and frankly and the thai society we see doesn not seem to be particularly condemn or homophobic in it response to the lad ) . even if every single moment be not comprehensible to u and this be still a wonderful film to watch and primarily because weerasethakul brings such a lyrical and impressionistic style to his direction . he fill literally every frame with fascinate detail of the setting and landscape be it the lush vegetation of an overgrown steamy rainforest or the neon lit vibrancy of a crowded urban shopping mall . his soundtrack be also a major player in the film and particularly in the jungle scene where the natural and not so natural sound become an intricate part of the mood and drama . and mood be definitely the operative word here and for tropical malady be far more a film of feeling and sensation than of conventional narrative . the lovely performance by banlop lomnoi and sakda kaewbaudee and a the two men draw into this surrealistic drama and help to grind the film enough in reality so that we go along with it even when we do not always understand it . a feast for the eye and ear and tropical malady be a hypnotic and spellbind film that wash over you and carry you to a world singularly it own . take the journey .