Terror Transmission

Nang Nak – 1999 – Thailand – Ocean Shores Video Limited

The legend of Nang Nak (literal translation – Mrs. Nak) is one known by every living soul in Thailand. This 19th century fable tells of a young devoted wife, Mae Naak, who lives on the shores of the Phra Khanong in an area of modern-day Bangkok (bang what?) with her cherished husband Nai Maak. They are humble villagers who are smitten over one another and happily expecting their first child when Maak is suddenly conscripted, leaving Naak and their unborn child to fend for themselves until his uncertain return.

Months go by, and as Maak is injured in the cruel and senseless war for his king, Naak and child perish during an arduous childbirth. Some time later, after Maak’s convalescence at a Buddhist shrine, he makes his way back home through war torn country to his stilt house to find his newborn son Dang in the arms of his adoring wife Naak, who had apparently been waiting faithfully for his return. The reunion is bliss with Naak being more attentive to Maak’s needs than ever and his young son healthy and strong, the truth of their tragic fate unknown to him. Oddly enough, Maak finds that the people of the area shun him and flee in fear when he approaches, and Naak reacts caustically to their strange behavior, strongly urging Maak to avoid them in return.

Several blissful days pass until Maak happens upon one of his dearest old friends while scouring the forest for wood. His friend tells him that Naak and Dang died during childbirth and that Maak has been living with two ghosts which caused the superstitious villagers to recoil as they had. Disturbed but incredulous, Maak returns home and relates the story to his wife, who shudders violently and spits curses at the “unfounded” accusations while assuaging her troubled husband. That night, chaos comes to the village in the form of the riled and avenging Naak, leaving Maak’s friend dead and the villagers trembling in fear. Soon thereafter, Maak finally learns the truth about his wife and child when he spies Naak’s unnaturally distended arm reaching through the floorboards of their house for a fallen beech nut. The spell lifted from Maak’s eyes, he scurries away from his ghostly family and to the protection of a group of monks in a nearby monastery. The monks attempt to cast a magical seal of protection around the horrified Maak while a ghost-busting shaman unearths the decomposing bodies of Naak and Dang in order to send them to an eternal afterworld. Nang Naak enters the monastery pining for her husband’s return and, realizing the depth of his love for her, Maak rushes to the exorcism to stop the proceedings before they are irrevocably parted.

Nang Nak is an exceptionally diverse cultural tradition in Thailand. She is looked upon as a guiding angelic sort of figure with Nang Nak being synonymous with “faithful wife,” but she is also represented as an avenging spirit with parents admonishing their children to behave or have their brains eaten with a side of chili sauce by the ghostly martinet! Mmmm, sounds infinitely more appetizing than liver, fava beans and a nice chianti! There is even a shrine dedicated to Nang Nak in Bangkok which is visited by couples seeking a blessed union and by those in times of spiritual turmoil seeking divine guidance. I simply make a pilgrimage to the shitter, but to each his own. Filming this story was a virtual guarantee of decent box office returns given the pervasiveness of the material in Thai culture, but doing it so well and treating the material so sacredly along the way is remarkable and one of the reasons for its domestic successes.

This film was the 21st filmic interpretation of the legend in Thailand, but far and away the most successful. It raked in over 70 million in its opening weekend, even trumping the worldwide mega-hit / offensively half-witted “Titanic” by James Cameron. And deservedly so. The story is a touch saccharine to the jaded, but also unbearably tragic and, most certainly, moving. From the opening sequence, where a bereft Naak is sobbing out her departing husband’s name, the intensity of her affection is palpable, which imbues the story’s progression to the supernatural with a fable-like quality. The horror quotient is offered in a timely and atmospherically eerie manner and nicely balances the romantic thrust of the picture with an ominous sense of dread.

Nonzee Nimibutr is an outstanding director who gets magnificently heartfelt performances from his talented cast and, most importantly, a brilliant storyteller who understands the primary importance of pacing and ambience in any story, especially a ghost story which his audience was intimately familiar with. Languid, haunting, beautiful, melancholy and romantic beyond words, this is one of the finest examples of the ghost story ever filmed, ranking alongside greats such as “Ugetsu monogatari” (1953), “The Ghost Story of Yotsuya” (Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan, 1959) and “Kwaidan” (Kaidan, 1965). Recommended as a date movie for those wishing to gauge the sensitive depth of their partner and score points (and hopefully some tail) for themselves along the way.

Jason’s Grade: A-