TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Country: Thailand
Language: Thai
Year: 1999
Running Time: 114 min
SYNOPSIS
Tum is a secretary in a finance company. The ailing economy forces the company to lay-off some of its staff, and Tum happens to be one of them. The morning after, Tum, still shocked and depressed, finds a box of instant noodles in front of her apartment. Out of curiosity, she takes the box inside. But before she can decide what to do with it, there is a knock on her door. Two thugs from a Thai-boxing camp ask her if she has seen the noodle box. Out of fear, she tells them she hasn't. They don't believe her, and force their way into her flat, only to be killed, accidentally, by Tum. Just like in a movie... Tum decides to get rid of their bodies, get a plane ticket, get a fake passport and visa made, take the noodle box with her and go spend the rest of her life somewhere else. What if the man Tum goes to have a fake passport made happens to be the same man the noodle box belongs to? What if a neighbor who believes Tum stole her lover is planning a sordid revenge? And what if, on that very same day, Tum's closest friend also sees her sweet love affair bursts just like the economic bubble? This strange coincidence couples with the mysterious disappearance of the two thugs and the noodle box set off a chain of events, which quickly get out of everyone's control.
CREDITS
Director Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Writer Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Producer Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Executive Producer Charoen Iamphungporn
Consultant Kobsuk Charuchinda
Production Company Five Stars Production
Production Company Film Factory
Cinematographer Chankit Chamnivikaipong
Art Direction Saksiri Chantarangsri
Editor Patamanadda Yukol
Sound Amornbhong Methakunavudh
Costume Sombasara Theerasaroj
Casting Sukhumaporn Suthisrisilp
Co-production Company Yee Tat Lau
CAST
Lalita Panyopas as Tum
Sritao as Yen
Tasanawalai Ongartittichai as Jim
Black Phomtong as Kanjit
Arun Wannardbodeewong as Suwat
Sirisin Siripornsmathikul as Pen
Likit Thongnak as Wiroj
ADDITIONAL INFO
From the director of LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE, FIPRESCI Award Hong Kong, Thai Film Awards (Thai equivalent to the GOLDEN GLOBES) Best Actress & Best Supporting Actress & Best Screenplay, Best Feature Brooklyn, Forum Berlin, Rotterdam, Toronto, Singapore, Karlovy Vary, Chicago, Edinburgh
 
Pen-ek Ratanaruang  | director
Pen-ek was born in Bangkok in 1962. He spent eight formative years in his late teens and early twenties in New York City, where he studied at the Pratt Institute, majoring in Art History. He went on to work as a freelance illustrator and graphic designer. Back in Thailand, he was appointed Head of Art at the Leo Burnett agency and spent five years as an art director before directing TV commercials. He made his debut as a feature film director in 1997 with a movie that broke the mold of Thai cinema, and has since produced a stream of innovative films. He is one of the handful of directors who have helped to reinvent the Thai film industry since its slump in the 1990s, and has pioneered both the trend of looking back at retro Thai pop culture for inspiration and the expansion of Thai cinema into the realms of international casting and co-production. His films have been screened in festivals around the world, and he has picked up numerous festival prizes. NYMPH, his latest work, had its world premiere in Cannes 2009.
Filmography
2009    NYMPH
2007    PLOY
2006    INVISIBLE WAVES
2003    LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE
2001    MON-RAK TRANSISTOR
1999    6IXYNIN9
1997    FUN BAR KARAOKE
 
TRAILERS
 
 
PUBLICITY & REVIEWS
AWARDS
Year Category Awarded By Award Result Award Recipient
2000 Best Screenplay Thailand National Film Association Winner Pen-ek Ratanaruang
2000 Fipresci Hong Kong Film Awards Winner Pen-ek Ratanaruang
2000 Special Jury Prize Berlin International Film Festival Special Mention Pen-ek Ratanaruang
2000 Best Actress Thailand National Film Association Winner Lalita Panyopas