Skip to main content

Tropical Night (Korean)

By Golu
A Korean slow, moody film set in Thailand, this film had decent story but the treatment, editing and the direction of the film leaves a lot to be desired. As individuals we all are dealing with some sort of baggage in life, some accept it and some prefer to deal with it. This film focuses on three such individuals who are interconnected and how they are dealing with a trauma that joins them.

Min-ki has just arrived to Thailand to look for his brother's boyfriend Jae-hee. We are told through series of flashbacks that Min-kiss brother was harassed a lot by his seniors in military. He couldn't take it anymore and committed suicide. Min-ki believes that had Je-hee been there for his brother, the outcome would have been different. Jae-hee on the other hand is spending time in Pattaya with his sick step-brother who is soon going to die. The trio just get into a weird dynamic where Min-Ki wants Jae-hee to apologize but he wouldn't. Eventually Min-ki realizes that what his brother did was not Jae-hee's fault who loved his brother very much. This all happens with the support of step-brother who confides with Min-ki that he loves his brother but wouldn't do anything. He goes on ending his life asking Jae-hee that Min-ki would make him happy, so he should go find him and be with him forever. The film has a happy/sad ending.

There are a lot of issues with this film. To begin with, the beginning and the ending is both pretty random. IN the first scene we see Min-ki arrives in Bangkok, Jae-hee sees him, follows him and then grabs him and kisses him hard fo Ron reason in a drunken state. What was that about? Similarly, Min-ki was only there to confront his brother's lover. How and when did the duo get any chemistry to be possible lovers. The fact that Jan-see was able to track down Min-ki in the climax right from Pattaya to Bangkok in the exact spots is just mind boggling. Of course, these are cinematic liberties but come on, please make it slightly believable at least. Lot of disjointed scenes were put together, where one minute they are fighting, other minute something else is happening. This film would have been much more sharper and crispier as a short 30 minute story and would have created a better impact. The actors are good looking and act really well but he overall story and screenplay are a huge letdown here. The film never really explored into why Min-ki's brother really committed suicide and could that have been prevented with love or whatever. The title of the film alludes to the surrounding of Pattaya and how the city, the beach and the air brought the three individuals together, who are all a mess in their own ways.

Its a very slow film and really doesn't have much to offer. It's ok to skip this one for something more interesting. (4/10)
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Shortest Distance is Round 3: Fallen Flowers

By Golu
Continuing with the weird trilogy of "The Shortest Distance", I am so glad that finally I am done with part 3 and won't have to deal with this again in future. Thankfully, as of now the makers have not announced any further parts; which will save all of us on this earth from the embarrassment of watching this in near future. After the first 10 minutes are used in sort of recapping bits of first two parts, the story moves forward. Haruto is now starting to have feelings for Ruka, the mysterious pole dancer from second part. In a fit of rage, Ruka ends up killing the goat man and to save him and Haruto, Shibahara asks them to go underground. Meanwhile Shibahara continues the search for Seiya (the guy who had cut off Haruto's penis). It turns out Seiya is now also taking care of the original club owner from part 1. Both of them were released after they had informed Shibahara of Aoyama's secret location. Shibahara tortures Seiya's boyfriend leading to Seiya killin...
5 comments
Read more

Sei no Gekiyaku (Japanese) [Dangerous Drugs of Sex]

By Golu
Every person has their own unique way of dealing with loss. This film is as much a psychological thriller as it is a soft porn BDSM portrayal of two young men that makes the film overall horrifying as well as humane. It is really hard to describe the genre of this film in one word. Its important not that the film has some really disturbing scenes so if you go into seeing this film, please proceed with caution. Although any sexual non-consensual activity is not ok, this film has its won strange way of showing that suicide is not the only solution to all life's problems. Makoto is a regular office goer, who just finds out that his girlfriend is probably cheating on him. ON top of it, his parents sudden death coming back from a trip that he forced them to take, he gets completely dejected and decides to commit suicide. Unknown to him, he is saved by mysterious man Yoda Ryoji, and he wakes up finding himself tied up in leather and belts in a very BDSM setting. This mysterious saver soo...
3 comments
Read more

One Summer Night (Korean)

By Golu
I really wanted to like this film but for non native speakers, these movie leaves a lot to be understood and the way scenes were unfolding in front of me, I wasn't sure many times what was really going on. The story had potential button getting any back story on any of the characters limited my ability to empathize with any of these actors. Film starts with two North Korea military guys Yong Joon and Jae Sung having sex and they are caught red handed and they run. Three years later we see Yong Joon in Seoul leading a very mundane and poor life. He has a boyfriend Tae-Kyu, who is a weird guy. He is carefree, doesn't do any work and is completely emotional and financially dependent on Young Joon. In fact, even Yong Joon will go to any lengths to protect him , fend for him and taking care of him to the extent of even taking up prostitution. Suddenly one day Jae Sung appears in their life again. His motivation is not clear but it is obvious he wants Yong Joon back in his life, who ...
Post a Comment
Read more