Nang Nak

A chilling and tragic ghost story based on a Thai myth, Nang Nak follows a 19th-century warrior home from a gruesome war to his small village, where he is reunited with his faithful wife and newborn child. However, something is unsettlingly, supernaturally amiss, not just in his remote riverside hut but also in the whole village, and the haunted soldier is the only one who cannot--or will not--see it. Photographed in beautiful, eerily tranquil, vividly dusky imagery and period realism by director Nonzee Nimibutr, the film's evocative, often romantic ambiance is punctuated by brief skin-crawling nightmares, creative symbolism, and powerfully revealing moments that suggest this homecoming may not be what it seems. While paradoxically literal in its fable-like finale, the movie remains potently emotional and raises goosepimples, thanks to Nonzee's dramatic filmmaking and two lead performances (Winai Kraibutr and Intira Jaroenpura as the buff warrior and his young wife) that are both intimate and disquieting. Recommended. (R. Blackwelder)