Jan Dara (2001)

Synopsis: Beautiful, nostalgic photography and a haunting score make this melodrama of sex, love, and filial antagonism a treat for the senses. Nonzee Nimibutr (NANG NAK, BAYTONG) directs an adaptation of Usana Ploengtham's novel, THE STORY OF... Beautiful, nostalgic photography and a haunting score make this melodrama of sex, love, and filial antagonism a treat for the senses. Nonzee Nimibutr (NANG NAK, BAYTONG) directs an adaptation of Usana Ploengtham's novel, THE STORY OF JAN DARA, regarded as the most notorious erotic work of Thai literature. The title character, played by Suwinit Panjamawat, is established early on as a pariah in his home, when his mother dies while giving birth to him. His father, Khun Luang (Santisuk Promsiri), ostracizes him, labeling him a bastard and delivering brutal beatings to the boy. Khun Luang (which means "master") has an insatiable sexual appetite, and the child's earliest memories are of witnessing his father's conquests. The boy's own sexuality is initiated at an early age, and continues to blossom despite the violence of his father. Eventually thrown out of the house, the grown Jan (Eakarat Sarsukh) is years later asked back into the fold to save the family name. He sets about wreaking his revenge, inadvertently continuing the cycle of cruelty established by his father. This controversial film stars Asian sex goddess Christy Chung as Jan Dara's young stepmother and lover, and sent the Thai censors into convulsions with its overt sensuality that touches upon many taboo subjects. However, it is the essentially human drama at the film's core that gives JAN DARA its poignancy and resonance. [More]

Starring: Suwinit Panjamawat, Christy Chung, Eakarat Sarsukh, Wipawee Charoenpura

Starring: Suwinit Panjamawat, Christy Chung, Eakarat Sarsukh, Wipawee Charoenpura

Director: Nonzee Nimibutr

Director: Nonzee Nimibutr

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