Sud pralad (2004)

Director:

Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Writer:

Apichatpong Weerasethakul (writer)

Release Date:

24 November 2004 (Belgium)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Romance

Plot:

A gay-themed romance between a soldier (Lomnoi) and a country boy Tong, wrapped around a Thai folk legend involving a shaman with shapeshifting abilities.

Plot Keywords:

Surreal | Shrine | Mysticism | Ghost | Talking Bird

Awards:

4 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Banlop Lomnoi	...	Keng
Sakda Kaewbuadee	...	Tong
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Huai Dessom
Sirivech Jareonchon
Udom Promma

Directed by
Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Apichatpong Weerasethakul		writer

Produced by
Paiboon Damrongchaitham	....	co-producer
Charles de Meaux	....	producer
Axel Möbius	....	co-producer
Alex Moebius	....	producer
Marco Muller	....	co-producer
Christoph Thoke	....	co-producer
Pantham Thongsangl	....	co-producer

Cinematography by
Jarin Pengpanitch
Vichit Tanapanitch
Jean-Louis Vialard

Film Editing by
Lee Chatametikool
Jacopo Quadri

Production Design by
Akekarat Homlaor

Costume Design by
Pilaitip Jamniam

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sompot Chidgasornpongse	....	second assistant director
Suchada Sirithanawuddhi	....	first assistant director

Sound Department
Lee Chatametikool	....	sound editor
Thitipant Chongcharoen-choke-skul	....	sound designer
Akritchalerm Kalayanamitr	....	location sound (as Akrit Chaya-ngam)
Akritchalerm Kalayanamitr	....	sound designer
Akritchalerm Kalayanamitr	....	sound
Boom Suvagondha	....	assistant sound mixer
Narathip Tungkaseranee	....	boom operator
Narathip Tungkaseranee	....	foley editor
Jasmin Vorabutr	....	sound editor
Teekadet Vucharadhanin	....	foley artist
Traithep Wongpaiboon	....	sound re-recording mixer

Visual Effects by
Manfred Büttner	....	visual effects producer
Markus Degen	....	lead compositor
Markus Degen	....	visual effects supervisor
Florian Gellinger	....	digital compositor
Caterina Schiffers	....	digital compositor: postproduction, TVT

Editorial Department
Jacopo Quadri	....	editing advisor

Production Companies

• Backup Films (in association with)
• Anna Sanders Films (co-production)
• Downtown Pictures
• Kick the Machine (co-production)
• TIFA
• Thoke Moebius Film Company (co-production)

Distributors

• Ad Vitam Distribution (2004) (France) (theatrical)
• Istituto Luce (2005) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Sagrera TV (2006) (Spain) (all media)
• Slovenska Kinoteka (2005) (Slovenia) (all media)
• Strand Releasing (2004) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)

Special Effects

• tvt. postproduction

Other Companies

• Houdini Studio  post-production facilities (Final Cut Pro suite)
• Valve  thanks

Also Known As:

Tropical Malady (International: English title)

Runtime:

118 min | France:120 min | Argentina:120 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente)

Country:

Thailand | France | Germany | Italy

Language:

Thai

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | Dolby SR

Certification:

Spain:13 | Argentina:13 | Singapore:M18 | UK:12A | USA:Not Rated

Company:

Backup Films

Trivia:

The original title in Thai means in English: "Beast" or "Monster". The director translates the original Thai title into English as "Strange Animal". This is the literal, word-for-word translation (Sud = Animal, Pralad = Strange).

A masterpiece of sensory cinema

This film crushed me to the bone, exhausted my heart, and I was never again the same. It brought back faith in the uncompromised vision of cinema. Its images will forever stay in my memory; the stare of the tiger, the smell of the tropical rain...this is sensory cinema, where time is freezed and narrative is stripped, and what's left is for us to finally feel. It is utopian, but it is also sad, because we realize that there is never (and never will be) a utopia. People say love is utopian, yet according to Mr. Weerasethakul, it is also very consuming, which becomes possessive, and at the end, a burden. At the end, the soldier goes into the jungle to find what's been consuming him. The tiger. He is lost and completely hopeless; he has no purpose without the tiger, yet he cannot possibly live with the tiger because of its nature. They are co-dependent; co-exist. Is that what great love is all about?