Blissfully Yours / Sud sanaeha

Weerasethakul's second film tells of love and desire; its concrete setting in the Thai present and the openness to metaphorical interpretations are not mutually exclusive. Min, a social outsider and immigrant from Myanmar looking for work, suffers from a skin disease. Two Thai women care for him lovingly. However, he cannot obtain a health certificate. After about 40 minutes, credits run across the screen, the jungle replaces civilization, the three remain but the film changes intensity. Sensual images, almost without dialogue, show scenes of idleness almost in real time, moments of carefree happiness, berry-picking in sun-drenched clearings, and sex by the water. The jungle became central to the filmmaker's work with this film. (bik)