Krabi, 2562 — Krabi, 2562(Blu Ray)

Krabi, 2562 sells its self as an arty & dream-like critique of Thailand- its present/ past, and it’s tourist trade- focusing in on the coastal town of Krabi on the southern coast of the country. The film is decidedly slow & lulling mixture of slightly quirky & mysterious drama, travelogue footage, and interviews with local folk. From Anti-World Releasing here, we have a recent Blu Ray release of the film- bringing together a directors commentary, a selection of other short films by the same team, and a few other extras.

Made in 2019 Krabi, 2562 is a Thai/ British production- it was jointly directed by British cinematographer/ experimental filmmaker Ben Rivers, and Thai director/ producer Anocha Suwichakornpong. And while the whole thing is certainly well shot, and from time-to-time some of what they are trying to do clicks- largely the film felt almost thrown together, often amateurish, and crawling slow- even though it comes in at  around the hour and a half mark.

The formal plot/ story of the film focuses in on two groups of people- an international team filming an advert off the coast of Krabi with its impressive backdrop of rocky & monolithic limestone islands. And an unnamed young female traveller- who shifts from being a location scout, working in some form of public research, to seemingly disappearing. Around the decidedly flimsy &  dull interaction between these two groups- Rivers & Suwichakornpong place seemingly unrelated, and largely point-less visuals- taking shots of road travel, Krabi town, & the Thai countryside. From time-to-time a on-camera interview will pop-up and subject wise we have: a local elderly man who was once a boxer, the hotel clerk, a bubble female tour guide- and none of these are particularly insightful or interesting. The whole thing really does drag, drag along- with the shots hovering too long, and the whole structure/ tone of the film seems flippant & flat.

I do enjoy both arthouse film, and documentary- and very much enjoy when the two meet- for example some of Herzog’s work. The concept/ idea of Krabi, 2562 certainly sounded promising on paper with its supposable blurring of fact, fiction, past & present- but it’s all done in such a lazy, lose, and lulling pretentious manner. I had two or three watches through of the film, and each time it annoyed me even more with its twee smugness & haphazard mixing of footage.

Moving onto the extras, and you certainly get a good & bountiful amount. First, there’s the commentary track- featuring Rivers, Suwichakornpong & one of the films sound editor/ sound recordist- who pops in & out of the track. It’s certainly a fairly chatty & informative track- with them talking about how/ when certainly shots where made, actors & none actors who appear, and some of the concepts they try & get across in the film- so if you did get something from Krabi, 2562 then I feel you’ll gain worth from it. Next, we get a  three minute deleted scene, Mahasajan Phapphyon- a continually looped sequence from the film. Next, we get four films by both Rivers & Suwichakornpong- these run between forty-six minutes & ten minutes. The longest film is Ghost Strata, which is directed by Rivers, and  it's a diary film- playing out a years worth of imagery, travelogue footages, speeches, interviews & behind the scenes footage from Krabi, 2562- and I’m afraid it didn’t grab me, and felt like it was thrown together. The other three films are once again a mix of different footage, speakers, etc- that blur the lines between fact & fiction- again I’m afraid none of these grabbed me. Next, we get ten Soundworks from Ernst Karel  the sound designer on Krabi, 2562- in total they run for whopping one hundred and thirty-six minutes- these are basically created by sound elements he recorded for the film- I played a few of these, and I hate to be negative once again- but they felt rather dull & uninspired- and this is coming from someone who enjoys/ regularly reviews soundart & untouched field recordings. The finished version of the release comes with a thirty-six-page booklet- taking in new writing about the film, an interview with the directors, and Karel discussing his sound work for the film.

I certainly respected & admire Anti- world for hunting down, and putting out original & distinctive art-house films/ documentaries. And I very enjoyed two of the first batch of films they released at the start of this year- the vapid-yet-unsettling low key crime film Holiday, and the surreal slacker film Relaxer- but I’m afraid Krabi, 2562 just wasn’t for me…..maybe if you have more insight in to Thai culture, or enjoy lulling blends of footage it may do something for you.