"Tears of the Black Tiger" is a stylistic hybrid that brings together the cinematic excesses of Douglas Sirk and Sergio Leone, with a smattering of Quentin Tarrentino. The storyline and dialogue are strictly from hunger, but the voice-over narration can be hauntingly beautiful. It involves a poor boy who falls in love with the governor's daughter. They are separated in childhood and then reunited as adults. In the meantime, the girl has become engaged to a policeman, and the boy has linked up with a band of outlaws and is now known as the Black Tiger. His male-bonding with one of the outlaws is reminiscent of the Monty Clift/Arthur Kennedy relationship in "Red River." It's all very clichéd and yet strikingly original (I half expected a Brokeback angle). The music is folkish, the colors pastel, and the violence over the top. But somehow it makes an impression; this is a film that will continue to haunt me.
Review of Tears of the Black Tiger
