Tears of the Black Tiger: A Post Modern Western –
Pastiche & Hybridity
Tears of the Black Tiger /Fa Talai Jone (2000) is a hybrid of many different Genres mixing the western with comedy, musical and melodrama. ... Is it Thailand’s first post modern movie making knowing references to it’s own culture while paying homage to Americas great genre.
Although the western is considered an exclusively American genre this is not the case. ... It is also widely known of the link between Japanese jidai- geki films by Kurosawa Yojimbo (1960) and the western films which inspired him as much as he inspired the Spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone Fistful of Dollars (1964).
The American Western is defined by it’s structure, theme and style, Thomas Schatz said the most important motif is the foundational narrative,
“The struggle to create a civilisation in the wilderness, as in Stagecoach (1939). ... ”
(Landy,1996, p214)
The classic western was primarily a tale of the passing of the west and a way of reflecting on the myth of the west.
Although the Wisit Sansanatieng directed, Thai Western, Tears of the Black Tiger /Fa Talai Jone (2000), a tale of two young lovers, poor boy Dum (Chartchai Ngamsan) and rich girl Rumpoey (Stella Malucchi), who try to overcome parental disapproval and rampaging bandits to stay together. Has no relationship to these themes of the Classic Western, it makes liberal use of Western iconography and has many references to the genre in its story. It isn’t interested in the ideological baggage of the American Western. ... In narrative terms the centre of the film is the romance between poor Dum and rich Rumpoey, in this Tears more resembles Douglas Sirks Melodramas or Universals weepies. This pastiche can be seen in the brightly coloured images and highly stylised colour scheme mise en scene.
Tears is a post modern film which takes what it wants from other genre’s and sources, producing a surface texture which is only surface. ... I thought it should be possible to combine retro elements - faithful to the old styles of movie-making - with more modern pacing and film language.
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