Blissfully Yours

Apichatpong's 'emotional disaster movie' opens wittily with the longest pre-credits scene ever: a leisurely introduction to the three main characters and the binds that tie them. Min (Oo) is a Burmese illegal immigrant, a strapping lad with a nagging skin problem, in need of a fake ID. His Thai girlfriend Roong (Kanokporn), a factory worker, has hired Orn and her husband to help get it. Orn wants to have another child before she's too old, but her husband isn't keen. The credits show up some 45 minutes in, as Min guides Roong to a secluded spot near the Thai-Burmese border where they'll eat, laze, bathe and eventually make love. By chance Orn has chosen a spot nearby for illicit sex with her lover... There's more here than meets the eye: the shattered Thai economy and the Burmese military junta are only just offscreen, and unvoiced fears simmer in the sweltering heat. But the film takes its tone from the uncomplicated Min, whose diary notes and sketches are sometimes superimposed over the images. A languid celebration of the pleasures of the moment, which climaxes with an image of startling sexual candour.