Nang Mai (Nymph)

The more I think about Nymph, the more I like it. And I'm glad that I liked it after early reviews from the Cannes Film Festival tended to be pretty negative.

After seeing it, I was sniffing my clothes to see if they smelled like decomposing leaves. I turned up the bottom of my shoe and expected to find mud. It's like going on a hike in the woods.

It's the story of a young couple (Wanida “Gybzy” Termthanaporn and Nopachai “Peter” Jayanama) who've grown apart. She's having an affair with he jerk of a boss (Chamanan Wanwinwet) and he's a nerdy photographer focused on his work.

Presumably to rekindle their marriage, the couple goes camping. But she still has headaches and he's still geeking out on photography. He becomes attracted to a tree and disappears -- taken by a vengeful and lonely tree spirit.

My review for Daily Xpress ran on Wednesday. And here's a bit more:

Like the forest, Nymph is mysterious and foreboding. But like an ancient tree, it's worth looking at, pondering and sitting under. Strengths include the uniformly strong, understated and naturalistic performances from a fine, brave cast; a complementary subtle and creepy sound design by Akritchalerm Kalayanamitr and Koichi Shimizu and stunning camera work headed by cinematographer Charnkit Chamnivikaipong.

For the Thailand general release, Pen-ek re-edited the film, which was still in rough form when it was rushed to the Cannes Film Festival.

This new 90-minute "Director's Cut" is said to be his definitive version and will be the one that is shipped out to future film festivals and eventually to DVD.

Finally, a bit of a tearful note as the end credits roll: The film is dedicated to Wouter Barendrecht, Pen-ek's friend and producer at Fortissimo Films, who died in Bangkok on April 5, 2009. He was to have seen a rough edit of Nymph.

The "Director's Cut" -- the one Pen-ek wants people to see -- is playing in most cinemas, but for completists, the "Cannes Version" is showing at Paragon Cineplex and SFW CentralWorld.

Wongkamlao

Petchtai "Mum Jokmok" Wongkamlao gathers a few familiar faces from his past films for his latest directorial effort, Wongkamlao (วงษ์คำเหลา), which spoofs the classic hi-so Thai soap opera Baan Saithong.

With Mum playing the head of a wealthy family, the comedy also stars Apaporn Nakonsawan, who had a memorable role in Mum's first Bodyguard, playing the club-hostess matriarch of a slum family. Here's she's a noisy and bossy sister. There's also Mum's real-life sister, Waew Jokmok and Anuwat Tarapan from Yam Yasothon. Add to the mix veteran comedy hand Somlek Sakdikul and plucky new character actress Sudarat Butrprom, and there's a pretty strong cast.

The story is set in Wongkamlao Mansion, where the noble-blooded Petcharawuth family resides. The head of the family, Khun Chai (Mum) runs the family jewellery business. Veteran singer Chantana Kitiphan plays Khunying Praewpiras, the family matriarch. His older sister Khun Ying Yai Ploywarin (Weaw) is a strict old maid. Younger sister Khun Ying Lek Praewpraow (Apaporn) is loud and demanding. Junior Paitoon (Chalerm Yamchamang or Lern Mum Show) , the youngest brother, is autistic, while Grandpa Porncharas (Somlek) is a mysterious guy who alway hides hin his secret pavilion.

Conflict arises when a private English tutor Piramon (Akamsiri "Jakkrajan" Suwansuk) is hired to teach Junior, and the sisters are jealous of the teacher's physical attractiveness and popularity.

I've been looking forward to Wongkamlao, hoping it would be as good as Yam Yasothon, in which Mum parodied and paid homage to the rural Thai musical comedies of the 1960s.

The trailer was playing in cinemas until this week. While there are highlights -- Mum's singing and Somlek's impeccable comic timing among them -- I was disappointed to find that instead of playing it straight, and letting the satire speak for itself, there's the usual idiotic bleeps, bloops and slide-whistle sound effects that are found on the nightly variety shows, to let people know when to laugh.

I don't recall any of that in Yam Yasothon, or at least not as much of it.

Oh, and there's the screaming transvestite character -- a time-honored tradition -- but the one in Wongkamlao (Orachon Mamchow) seems to be screaming more often and more loudly than ever.

Not much credit is given to the audiences, or to the strength of this comedy, but I am still nonetheless curious to check it out.

Also opening

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs -- The third animation in the series from Blue Sky Studios has the talking prehistoric mammals thinking about family issues. The stupid sloth steals a dinosaur egg -- yes dinosaurs and wooly mammoths walked the Earth at the same time according to this -- because he wants to start a family. The sabretooth squirrel Scrat meets a female counterpart and competitor for his elusive acorn. It's in digital 3D in some cinemas, though I have a headache enough just thinking about it.

Public Enemy No. 1 Part 1 -- From the French Film Festival, Vincent Cassel stars in this epic life story of French gangster Jacques Mesrine. Part 2 will follow on July 30. At Apex in Siam Square. Opens on Thursday.

Also showing

New York -- The smash-hit Bollywood film is back for another weekend. It earned around 350 million rupees -- about US$8 million or 240 million baht in a worldwide opening last weekend, which was the first for Bollywood after a two-month strike by producers shut down the entire industry. In India, according to figures cited by AFP, cinema occupancy was around 80 to 85 percent. Indian were hungry for their movies. The story is set in 2001 New York City, where three friends find their lives overtaken by larger events. The film has also been controversial because one of its lead actors, John Abraham, is seen in a nude -- a sign that the Indian film industry's usual standards of chasteness are starting to slip.  New York shows at 8pm on Saturday and 5pm on Sunday at SFW CentralWorld. For reservations, visit www.BollywoodThai.com or call (02) 225 7500 or (089) 488 2620.

The last couple of weeks have had strange schedules. The program change was on Wednesday this week, instead of the usual Thursday. Next week, it's back to normal -- whatever that is -- with new movies released on Thursday.