The Omen
Director: Tamaraks Kamutamanoch
Cast: Apichej Kittikornjaroen, Woravej Danuwong,
Kavee Tanjararak, Supatchaya Reunreung, Pisamai Vilaisan
Year: 2003
Running Time: 80 minutes
The Pang Brothers are hanging
all over this film like Triads on a debt collection – they wrote the screenplay,
edited it, presented it and probably bought the coffee – but they apparently
left the directing duties up to Tamaraks Kamutamanoch. Oddly, in the DVD
credits I didn’t notice any for director, but his name is on the DVD box
and a few other sources as well (but there are also some that credit the
Pang’s as the directors). I can’t find any other credits for this director
so perhaps the Pang’s were simply mystically transferring their vision through
this person or maybe he is connected to them from some previous life. The
movie has the clean sharp colorful look that the Pang’s bring to their films,
but the camera work and editing is surprisingly mainstream with few of their
trademark jazzy tricks. To some degree that is a relief as it allows you
to focus on this peculiar little film without being distracted by off-setting
camera angles and spinning rooms.
Though this has been marketed
as a horror film, it is really not. It is more a supernatural yarn that spins
a slow intriguing crisscrossing tale of fate and karma that almost feels
as if it should have a “Believe It or Not” burned onto the end of the film.
Unfortunately, I didn’t – at least for me the resolution is as dumb as a
bag of bricks and leaves the viewer feeling as if he has been taken for a
ride. But it’s a good ride as this film very subtly brings together a puzzle
that has you wondering how all the strands are connected and what it means.
Three friends from childhood
work together as graphic designers and all simultaneously come across odd
situations that don’t seem connected, but as the film works it’s way forward
they apparently may be. Dan (Woravej Danuwong) is driving home after work
when he has to swerve to miss an old woman (Pisamai Vilaisan) on the road
and crashes into a tree. When he wakes up he finds himself in her ramshackle
hut and finds her mutely watching him. As he leaves, she mutters, “Will we
meet again?” He thinks this strange but likely the ramblings of a lonely
old woman – but when he returns to thank her later she warns him to take
the stairs and not enter a small room. He is soon trapped in an elevator
and is mildly freaked out by her prediction. There are others to come - one
quite bad.
Beam (Kavee Tanjararak)
has a nicer encounter – though it begins with a flowerpot falling onto his
car from an apartment. The girl responsible is Aum (Supatchaya Reunreung)
and after some ranting and raving by Beam he realizes she is fairly attractive
and they become friends. Big (Apichej Kittikornjaroen) also makes a strange
connection in his car when a young roadside garland seller plays a guessing
game with him while he is stuck in traffic – the end result being that he
loses his car models and gains miniature dogs – but he can’t figure out how
the switch was made. Events eventually move from the unusual to the supernatural
– while visiting the old woman again Dan notices an old dusty picture clearly
taken a long time ago – when he looks closer he realizes it is a picture of
Aum and suddenly these lives begin crashing together from almost different
dimensions. The film had me up to this point – the performances are not great
but personable – and it moves along very smoothly – but there is a big road
bump ahead.
My rating for this film:
6.0