MOVIE REVIEW

Mystery, magic and meaning in an original love story.

By Kevin Thomas, Times Staff Writer

Apichatpong Weerasethakul's mysterious and original "Tropical Malady" opens with a romance that develops in leisurely fashion between Keng (Banlop Lomnoi), a Thai forest ranger, and Tong (Sakda Kaewbuadee), a boyish young man who lives in the country with his kindly, hospitable parents. At just the point Tong retreats, perhaps only playfully but perhaps also enigmatically, from Keng's advances, the film shifts from the everyday world into the supernatural.

Yet this shimmering film is all of a piece. Its first part moves with such ease from one relaxed, sunny vignette to another that the change to adventure fantasy plays like a seamless progression. After Tong disappears into the darkness of night after that final playful interlude, Keng learns that a white cow has been mysteriously killed and devoured, and he discovers a paw print that most likely had been made by a tiger.

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A primitive drawing of a tiger, reminiscent of an ancient cave painting, then appears on the screen accompanied by a voice speaking of a shaman capable of transforming himself into animals. Plunging into the jungle in the darkness of night, Keng in time encounters a tiger and a naked wild man who is clearly Tong — and a monkey helpfully tells Keng this creature has become the ghost — perhaps spirit would have been the better translation — of the tiger. The simian says Keng has a choice: kill the spirit or join him by being devoured by the tiger himself.

This entire jungle sequence is suspenseful, even hypnotic. "Tropical Malady" is a love story that evolves into a parable about the sacrifices true love demands — in this instance for Keng to be with Tong, whether this means rescuing him from some dark force or sacrificing oneself in order to be reunited.

The film has such a dreamy, gentle, floating quality that even at its darker, most dangerous moments it never seems malevolent — and that is perhaps because it is so romantic, at first tethered playfully in the real world and then freed to soar in the realm of the supernatural. Counterpointing the film's tantalizing images is an inspired use of both man-made and natural sounds. "Tropical Malady" is the work of a visionary fabulist.

'Tropical Malady'

MPAA rating: Unrated

Times guidelines: Complex adult themes, some sensuality

Distributed by Strand Releasing Writer-director Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Producer Charles de Meaux. Cinematographers Vichit Tanapanitch, Jarin Pengpanitch, Jean-Louis Vialard. Editors Lee Chatametikool, Jacopo Quadri. Costumes Pilaitip Jamniam. Production designer Akekarat Homlaor. In Thai, with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour, 59 minutes. Exclusively at the Nuart through Thursday, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles, (310) 281-8223.