+5
Tears of the Black Tiger (2000).
So this HOF has been treating me well. Since a shaky experience with Chocolate, the films have all been at least outstanding in some respects. Some in many.
Well, the streak is over.
This movie is bad. Like MST3K (or Rifftrax) should riff bad, which at least means somewhat entertainingly bad. If Sirk, Leone, and Peckinpah had a baby, but that baby had severe mental disabilities, it might look something like this movie. Supposedly there is parody here. To me this seems like a post-hoc justification, like when Tommy Wiseau now claims The Room was always meant as a comedy. I did laugh a few times, but at parts I don't think were intended as funny. Maybe it's cultural.
The heart of the film is the star-crossed relationship between Dum Dua and Rumpoey Prasit, who connect as children and form a strong love that never wavers. Dum Dua and his family work on Rumpoey's father's estate. They are banished to rural Thailand when Dum is blamed for an incidentin which he defends Rumpoey's honor. Through a series of events, Dum becomes an outlaw, the "Black Tiger," initially to avenge his father, murdered by gangsters, but becomes quite good at it, drawing the jealousy of his colleague, Mahesuan. Meanwhile, Rumpoey gets engaged to a military captain, Kumjorn, who is hopelessly in love with Rumpoey. This sets up the movie's main conflicts.
A few problems: there is ZERO chemistry between Dum and Rumpoey. Zero. That's partially because the actor, Chartchai Ngamsan, has exactly three facial expressions, only two of which he frequently uses. He seems to perpetually have indigestion. The actress who plays Rumpoey, Stella Malucchi, is one of the film's few bright spots. She can act. Unfortunately, that works to the film's disadvantage, as it highlights Ngamsan's weaknesses. It's very difficult to believe they are even a couple, much less in love. It's just as strange that Dum's rival, Kumjorn, does not realize until the end of the film that Rumpoey is in love with someone else. Rumpoey does not so much as make eye contact with Kumjorn until they are already married. Kumjorn is unbelievably clueless in the literal sense - I don't believe any human could be that oblivious. If this is meant to be funny, the film does not clarify this point.
The fighting and shooting etc are alright, but no patch on Peckinpah. The movie is also way over-impressed with itself, like when it stops to rewind and show you how amazing a shot was early on. The shots are silly and nonsensical. One involves two bullets hitting each other directly. Absurd enough. What's really ridiculous though is that the path of only one bullet (a villain) is diverted while the other bullet (that of the hero) hits its mark.
I have no problem with movies that mash up genres so long as each side is done well. Here, neither side works on either a character or action level. 1.5 stars, and I think I'm being generous.