Retrospective: Invisible Waves (2005)

[Kam-Hung Soh]

After Kyoji (Tadanobu Asano), a young Japanese cook, murders his lover 
Seiko (Tomono Kuga), he flees Macau on a cruise ship, where he meets Noi 
(Hye-jeong Kang), a Korean mother with a toddler, on vacation. When he 
arrives in Phuket, he finds he is being hunted by some gangsters, 
possibly hired by Seiko's husband (and his Thai boss), Wiwat (Toon 
Hiranyasap).

This is a languorous film made by Thai director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang and 
writer Prabda Yoon. It is filled with dreamlike scenes set in strangely 
deserted streets of Macau and Hong Kong, or aboard the near-empty cruise 
ship. Kyoji's journey is punctuated with minor mishaps and annoyances, 
perhaps reflecting his punishment for his crime. Christopher Doyle's 
lovely fluid and off-centre cinematography and the hesitant use of 
English between the characters from different cultures (obviously 
everyone's second language) further add to the dreamlike feeling. Most 
of the action occurs off screen and its only near the end that the 
horror of Kyoji's crime is revealed.

While accepting that this is a slow-moving mood piece and admiring the 
writing and technical achievements, I found this film to be a challenge 
to watch. The scenes on the cruise ship go on and on interminably, and 
Kyoji is annoying dim (why go to Thailand to evade the law when your 
dead lover's husband may be connected to Thai gangsters?) and passive.

Stars: 2 out of 5.

Kam-Hung Soh
22 February 2009
http://morvahouse.blogspot.com