It is difficult to tell what the director's intentions were with this Thai film called Ploy. The three central characters are a husband (Wit) and wife (Dang) and a young woman (Ploy) the husband meets in an airport bar.
The film starts at a slow pace--appropriate as the tired husband and wife travelers arrive in Thailand in the early morning hours. But the pace remains sluggish until we realize that's the style of the film Then we discover that some happenings may only be the stuff of dreams.
Eventually, it becomes apparent that this is not a simple narrative. Side stories branch off, some action may be fantasy, and other plot developments seem to terminate without resolution.
Though it all, the "central action" that takes place in the couple's hotel room is filmed very deliberately. The camera lingers on vacated spaces. It traces the lines of architectural elements, rendering them cubist abstractions. It captures inactivity. The result is the film becomes a kind of meditation.
The film did not lose my attention. Although the storyline was ambiguous, I was still engaged.
Clearly the central theme has something to do with the shelf life of (married) relationships. Wit says, "Everyone is lonely. Most people don't know it because they're too busy." The film is named after the young girl's character, presumably because she is the catalyst that sparks the couple's imaginations and fears.
The film starts at a slow pace--appropriate as the tired husband and wife travelers arrive in Thailand in the early morning hours. But the pace remains sluggish until we realize that's the style of the film Then we discover that some happenings may only be the stuff of dreams.
Eventually, it becomes apparent that this is not a simple narrative. Side stories branch off, some action may be fantasy, and other plot developments seem to terminate without resolution.
Though it all, the "central action" that takes place in the couple's hotel room is filmed very deliberately. The camera lingers on vacated spaces. It traces the lines of architectural elements, rendering them cubist abstractions. It captures inactivity. The result is the film becomes a kind of meditation.
The film did not lose my attention. Although the storyline was ambiguous, I was still engaged.
Clearly the central theme has something to do with the shelf life of (married) relationships. Wit says, "Everyone is lonely. Most people don't know it because they're too busy." The film is named after the young girl's character, presumably because she is the catalyst that sparks the couple's imaginations and fears.