Blissfully Yours

Infobox Film
name = Blissfully Yours


caption = The Thai film poster.
director = Apichatpong Weerasethakul
producer = Eric Chan
Charles de Meaux
eproducer =
aproducer =
writer = Apichatpong Weerasethakul
starring = Kanokporn Thong-aram
Min Oo
Jenjira Jansuda
music =
cinematography = Sayombhu Mukdeeprom
editing = Lee Chatametikool
distributor = Kick the Machine
Anna Sanders Films
released = flagicon|France May 17, 2002
flagicon|Thailand August 13, 2002
runtime = 125 min.
country = Thailand
awards = Cannes Film Festival
language = Thai
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
amg_id = 1:266093
imdb_id = 0317171

"Blissfully Yours" (Thai: สุดเสน่หา or "Sud sanaeha") is a 2002 Thai romance film directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. It won the Un Certain Regard prize at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.

Synopsis

Min is an illegal Burmese immigrant living in Thailand who's contracted a mysterious rash. His girlfriend, Roong, and an older woman, Orn, take him to see a doctor. But the doctor is unable to do anything because Min is forbidden to speak, since he might reveal he is Burmese. Nonetheless, as is customary in Thai hospitals, some medicine is prescribed.

Orn is not satisfied, however, and she stops to buy some more supplies and then goes to her husband's office, where she concocts some lotion made with from store-bought creams and chopped vegetables and instructs Roong to slather it on Min.

Roong works in a factory, painting ceramic figurines. It's painstaking work, and she does not want to work after having worked overtime the day before. She feigns an illness and takes off with Min. She drives into the countryside, with the plan of having a picnic in the forest where she and Min can make love.

Orn, meanwhile, is longing for love. She steals her husband's motorcycle and goes into the jungle to meet Tommy, a worker at the factory. They have sex just off the roadside, but are interrupted when the motorcycle is stolen. Tommy chases after the thief and disappears.

Unsatisfied, Orn wanders deeper into the woods and stumbles upon Min and Roong, who have just finished making love.

Cast

* Kanokporn Tongaram as Roong
* Min Oo as Min
* Jenjira Jansuda as Orn

Title sequence and soundtrack

The opening title credits roll about 45 minutes into the film, during Roong and Min's drive into the jungle. Roong turns on the car radio and the music playing is a Thai-language version of "Summer Samba (So Nice)", composed by Marcos Valle and sung by the Thai artist, Nadia.

Alternate versions

Because of its graphic sex scenes, the film was censored in Thailand, with about 10 minutes cut from the Thai DVD release.

Festivals and awards

* 2002 Cannes Film Festival - Un Certain Regard Prize.
* 2002 Thessaloniki Film Festival - Golden Alexander.
* 2002 Tokyo FilmEx - Grand Prize.
* 2003 International Film Festival Rotterdam - Circle of Dutch Film Critics (KNF) Award.
* 2003 Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema - Best director and FIPRESCI Prize.
* 2003 Singapore International Film Festival - Young Cinema Award

External links

* [http://www.kickthemachine.com/works/blissfully_yours.html Official site at Kick the Machine]
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* [http://www.thaifilmdb.com/th/tt00004 "Blissfully Yours" at the Thai Film Database]