6ixtynin9 (Ruang Talok
69)
Director: Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Stars: Lalita Panyopas, Tasanawalai Ongartittichai,
Black Phomtong, Sritao, Arun Wannardbodeewong
Time: 114 minutes
Year: 1999
In an odd sort of way this is reminiscent of
a fast moving bedroom farce except that instead of hiding various lovers
away in closets, it is dead bodies being stuffed into drawers, in the bathtub
and of course for good measure one in the closet. Though the film is played
with a straight face throughout, it is a gleefully morbid comedy that is
almost cruel at times but becomes only more amusing as the body count rises.
It feels as if there is a definite Tarentino influence at work here - not
so much in the editing - this is much more low key - but more so in the application
of black humor and the way the film will suddenly go of on a riff with a minor
character. There are a couple rewarding moments in doing so such as with
the three women who fantasize about cutting of a man's penis and putting it
into a blender (this after they mistake something to do with murder for oral
sex!) or the killer who cries when he hears a song his mother loved.
Tum (Lalita Panyopas) seems to have the fates against her when her
boss has an office full of women pick sticks to see who is being let go from
their jobs. Her number comes up 9 and it’s only the beginning of her run of
bad luck around this number. She goes home – with a quick shoplifting stop
off that shows both how desperate she is as well as displaying a bit of larceny
in her heart – and goes to sleep. In the morning she wakes up to find a box
with one million Baht ($25,000) left at the front of her door. It is a clear
mistake but she takes it anyway. Two thugs come looking later when they realize
that her apartment number “6” looks like a “9” when it swings around as it
is apt to do. They get brutal – they end up dead – so what does a sweet young
thing do with two dead bodies and a box full of money in her apartment. Before
this long day comes to a close she has more bodies that she has to deal with
along with a bunch of killers who want their money back and a nosy neighbor
who comes closer than she knows to the end of a sharp blade.
Other than the manic layers of complications that build up like a house
of cards ready to collapse, one of the joys of the film is watching the Buster
Keaton dead pan expressions of Tum as her whole world is flipped on its head
in the blink of a knock on her door. In the middle of all of this chaos that
has found her, she retains her quiet calm and steadfastly follows her plan
to extricate herself from all this, almost oblivious to the danger she is
in. As the film progresses she shows a surprising and unflinching toughness
within; this ex-office girl has the heart of a tiger. In a sense, she represents
the “everyman” in a Thailand that is reeling from various economic blows,
but has to find a way to survive and forge ahead and she grabs a “gift” without
thinking of the consequences – but nothing comes for free. Director Pen-ek
Ratanaruang shows a very fluid style here and displays an able hand at finding
dark humor in rather grim circumstances - an ability that he brought forth
again for his 2001 film Monrak Transistor.
The VCD from Edko has English subtitles but the
transfer is fullscreen.
My rating for this films: 7.5