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