Review "Bangkok Nites" by Katsuya Tomita: (in)passes in paradise

On November 15, Bangkok Nites, a drama by Katsuya Tomita that depicts the other side of Bangkok's red light district where Japanese customers are massing. From the first images of the film, the director manages to summarize it in a few words: Bangkok Shit! as a resonance to the title Bangkok Nites.

Synopsis

Luck is the No. 1 brothel in which she works on Thaniya Street, in the heart of Bangkok's red light district. Every night, she meets rich Japanese customers who have come to party in this booming city, whose reputation is second to none. Money and drugs flow freely in this flashy universe where neon lights respond to rhinestones. Luck, by dint of cunning and know-how, earns enough to run a big train and provide for his family in the poor province of Nong Khrai, in the north of the country. But then everything changes the night she finds Ozawa, a former client and lover who lives in a modest room in the slums. When Ozawa has to go to Laos for "work", she accompanies him north to his family. There, the contrast is total as poverty denotes with the capital, and we understand where the pool of young girls from the red light district of Bangkok comes from.

Bangkok Nites

Opposite or dependent worlds? 

The first part of this long film of 183 minutes depicts the sordid daily life of young women forced into prostitution in the capital of Thailand where the Japanese come to sneak in. Between regular customers and one-night customers, Luck plays with his know-how and his tact. The colors are garish, the music hypnotic, then suddenly, the calm of the countryside and family life. Yet the drama that plays out there, more muted, is just as intense. Luck, although she supported her large family, was rejected for choosing her "job" she began at 16. Little by little, she gives herself up to Ozawa who seems to take a liking to country life without suspecting the heavy past of the province (wars, colonialism, etc.). and its inhabitants. But we must not be deceived, here too prostitution is wreaking havoc, and the weight of history is felt. Ozawa eventually discovered it during his trip to Laos, in view of the crater fields left by American bombs during the Vietnam War.

The character of Luck is strong despite his many cracks, however, the mask gradually cracks in contact with Ozawa. He seems more high, distant, he does not become well aware of what surrounds him, but he has a good background. The other characters, numerous, create a rich and plausible environment, although sometimes disjointed.

On the technical side, despite the limited means available to the team, the many night images are of a beautiful quality, without noise. The soundtrack, electronic and psychedelic in town then traditional engaged, holds an important place throughout the three hours of viewing. The director is also welcomed for insisting so much on the importance of traditional music and its protest characters, typical of these regions, in an interview. 

A sad story for an intense film

Bangkok Nites, moreover intense and very interesting, suffers from excessive lengths, but especially from disjointed elements, not necessarily intelligible at first glance. Some scenes or passages seem isolated from the rest. Is it to leave doubt about the future of the characters?

Thus, Bangkok Nites is a strong and gripping film that shows a committed actor-director who depicts the world with accuracy and realism. However, the realization suffers from a certain lack of maturity. This can be understood by the long achievement (more than a year of work) and the fact that Katsuya Tomita, a career truck driver, is totally self-taught. His sensitive work has already been praised many times through the various festivals in which he has participated.

We come out of this film a little upset, because we know from the reports and articles that life, especially for women, is difficult in the countries of this region of the world, to see it, even staged, is quite disturbing, especially since women, for the most part, play their own role. What is most shocking is to see that it is the norm to sacrifice a girl to support the family, and one wonders if they are not the ones who, in fact, really hold the economy of the country and allow the economic boom that Thailand has experienced over the last twenty years.

Like Tehran Taboo recently released, this committed film is sobering, but its theatrical distribution is likely to be greatly reduced while it raises real societal questions.