I fell asleep the first time watching this a while ago. I don't know, maybe it was its languid pacing. Maybe it was Summer heat. Or I might have been distracted that day. Since this film is the only one I haven't seen all the way through by one of my favorite directors, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, here I decided to try again. And it rewarded me handsomely.
What starts out as a little gay-soldier-in-the-jungle romance, Tropical Malady transforms itself in the midway into a hypnotic tale about transmigration of soul and love story unlike any other. Last half of the film- encounter with a ghost/tiger spirit, is mindblowingly beautiful. There are also many connections, themes one can find in other Weerasethakul's work here- memories, spirits, animism, nature... Organic, playful, gentle and breathtakingly gorgeous in its bare to the bone cinematography, it really reaffirms Mr. unpronounceable as one of the most original voices in contemporary cinema.
