Black Silk

Seni, a club owner, is under pressure by a rival, Wan, to pay an outstanding loan. Upon hearing that he has a long-lost brother named Sema, Seni sends his loyal lieutenants, Tom and Pon, to visit Sema, only to find that Sema has died. Seni decides that he can use the situation to his advantage, and buries Sema's body in a forest.

Seni and Tom orchestrate the death of Wan, by setting fire to Wan's car, pushing it off a cliff and framing Wan's assistant Sin, also dead, for the murder. Seni then assumes the identity of his dead brother, free and clear of debts and Wan's meddling.

Tom, meanwhile, has fallen in love with Phrae, a widowed mother who has worn black silk since her husband died two years before. Seni sees Phrae as a threat to his scheme and orders Tom to stop seeing her. Wan further plots to use Tom to psychologically manipulate Phrae.

Phrae then leaves Tom, shaves her head and enters a Buddhist temple. Tom tries to stand up to his boss, with disastrous consequences.

Considered the first Thai film noir, Black Silk was also among the first Thai films to be exhibited at overseas film festivals, screening at the 1961 Berlin International Film Festival.

Of all his works, Prae Dum (Black Silk) is the movie that manifests Ratana's curious mix of brave avant-garde and Buddhist serenity. A film of surreal beauty, it tells the story of a widow who's always dressed in black silk (played by Ratana's daughter, Pannee) and her troubled relationship with a village thug. In this story about murder and emotional manipulation, Prae Dum also has the existential light-footedness that resembles the French New Wave.

``Prae Dum is the film that remains my single major influence,'' says Wisit Sasanatieng, director of Tears of the Black Tiger and Citizen Dog. ``It's the crown jewel of all Thai cinema. It shows that Khun Ratana was not simply a master storyteller, but that he knew how to use colour, art direction and camera angles to create subtle nuances and charge the movie with strong emotions.''

``If I could choose, I would love to remake Prae Dum,'' adds Pen-ek. ``It is so, so, so atmospheric and film noir. The shot when the camera pans from the coffin to the pair of sandles on the floor still gives me a chill. That shot would have made Hitchcock proud.''

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