Review: Nang Nak

     With foreign films it's often the case that something gets lost in translation, but a great story is able to find its way through all of that. Nang Nak is a 1999 romance tragedy/horror film from Thailand, which I went into with low expectations. Films from that part of the world have a reputation for being low quality when it comes to plot and dialog, but with rich cinematography. While much of this is true for Nang Nak, it did exceed my expectations as its wonderful plot was able to get through the cultural differences and poor dialog.

       Nang Nak is based on a Thai legend about a man named Mak who leaves his pregnant wife Nak to go to war against the French, who were trying to expand their empire in southeast asia. Mak gets injured while at war, at it takes him several months to recover. He eventually makes his way home to Nak and his new born child. For a while, they live happily as a family. However, we learn that while Mak was at war, both Nak and her baby died in childbirth and it is their ghosts that Mak is living with. When Mak is informed of this by his friend while away from his home collecting wood, Mak doesn't believe him. The ghost of Nak, afraid of losing her husband again, lashes out at those who try to inform him of the reality of her ethereal nature and begins to kill the other members of their village. Mak and the villagers work with the local buddhist monks to try to make peace with the ghost, with mixed results.

       This film is surprisingly emotional. Nak is portrayed as more than just a vengeful ghost bent on trying to maintain the way things were we she was alive. She is also shown as a person who's feelings and motivations we can relate to. Unlike other villains in film, Nak's actions are make sense on a level other than an attempt to gain power. There is a touching scene where Mak tells the ghost of Nak, that he will love her till death do them part. The plot is also fairly original, and I can't think of a story from western culture that has a similar plot. This film is also beautifully shot, giving us a real feel for the 19th century Thai jungle, although the editing is often choppy, and hurts a few of the scenes. Another issue is the lack of exposition, the film starts with a solar eclipse, and then makes no mention of it again in the remainder of the film. It jumps to these two characters we don't know saying goodbye to each other as Mak goes off to war. There are a couple of moments that don't quite translate to western audiences, namely a scene involving spiders which Nak somehow interprets to mean Mak has been hurt. The big issue with this film is the dialog, I'd say a good third of the film is just the two lead actors repeating the other's name back and forth, but the plot is able to survive this and a pretty solid story comes through.

Rating: 5.5/10 - Amoral