Tropical Malady

Tropical Malady
The French film poster
Directed byApichatpong Weerasethakul
Written byApichatpong Weerasethakul
Produced byCharles de Meaux
Axel Moebius
StarringSakda Kaewbuadee
Banlop Lomnoi
Sirivech Jareonchon
Udom Promma
Huai Deesom
CinematographyJarin Pengpanitch
Vichit Tanapanitch
Jean-Louis Vialard
Edited byLee Chatametikool
Jacopo Quadri (Editing Advisor)
Production
companies
GMM Grammy
Rai Cinema
TIFA
Kick the Machine
Anna Sanders Films
Distributed byGMM Pictures
Release dates
  • 17 May 2004 (2004-05-17) (Cannes)
  • 24 June 2004 (2004-06-24) (Thailand)
Running time
125 minutes
CountryThailand
LanguageThai

Tropical Malady (สัตว์ประหลาด RTGS: Satpralat; lit. "monster") is a 2004 Thai romantic psychological drama art film written and directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. The film has a bifurcated structure; it is divided into two segments – the first is a romance between two men, and the second a mysterious tale about a soldier lost in the woods, bedeviled by the spirit of a shaman.

Tropical Malady won the Jury Prize at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, and was the first Thai film to be in the main competition at Cannes.[1] It is also the first Thai film to win a prize at one of the "Big Three" film festivals.[2][3]

In 2022, Tropical Malady was ranked the 62nd greatest film of all time in the Sight & Sound directors' poll[4] and 95th in their critics' poll.[5] In 2016, it was ranked the 6th greatest LGBT film of all time in the British Film Institute poll.[6]

  1. ^ "Cannes 2004 > In competition > Sud Pradad". Cannes Film Festival. Archived from the original on October 12, 2006. Retrieved January 8, 2007.
  2. ^ Tropical Malady. Author: Charles Taylor. Publisher: Salon. Published: 1 October 2004. Retrieved: 22 May 2014.
  3. ^ Film review: Beauty doesn't clarify 'Malady'. Author: Jeff Vice. Publisher: DeseretNews.com Published: 16 Sept 2005. Retrieved: 22 May 2014.
  4. ^ "Directors' 100 Greatest Films of All Time". BFI. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  5. ^ "The Greatest Films of All Time". BFI. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
  6. ^ "The 30 Best LGBTQ+ Films of All Time". BFI. March 15, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2022.