A retired, half-blind boxer sits in the doorway of his house watching the world go by, as he does every day now. He speaks in a soft, creaky, emotional tone which, combined with his tranquil mode of existence, is soul-stirring. His presence is incidental, not tied in any particular way to the rest of the scenes in the film, save for the fact that he resides in Krabi. Location is the connective tissue between snapshots of old and new, industrial and spiritual, town and country, natives and tourists in the Thai coastal dwelling.
This is an experiential watch, with the most consistently strong work coming through in the cinematography and sound design.
Location scout Siraphan Wattanajinda is our guide to this world. As her scenes emerge as a regular motif, we realise that we are seeing through her eyes. The intrigue-value of each snapshot rises and falls, giving the film a patchy quality. Some shots are mysteriously moving, while others are gently boring. The juxtaposition of images, such as an actor pissing in the forest with a Neanderthal man watching him, indicates that the film is gesturing towards a commentary on the clash between nature and commerce. These loftier social-commentary ambitions lack dynamic cohesion; all is presented suggestively but without comment.
The melding between documentary and docu-realistic fiction is deftly done, with the mystery of where one form ends and the other begins adding curiosity value throughout. Hybridity is in the film's DNA, for it is a collaboration between British artist and experimental filmmaker Ben Rivers (asked to make this film for Thailand’s Biennale) and his Thai-born co-director, Anocha Suwichakornpong.
This is an experiential watch, with the most consistently strong work coming through in the cinematography and sound design. Cinematographer Leung Ming Kai shot on Super 16 and it's worth enduring lulls to see his compositions of islands, beaches, Phra Nang Cave, tropical rain dousing a large cow, and people in kayaks floating through an ancient lagoon to the cacophonous screeching of cicadas.