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 he story of Nang Nak (which translates from Thai as
"Miss Nak" (the formal/respectful designation for a woman)) has been
told ad infinity and remains a popular (if not the most popular) part of Thai
horror lore. The story is supposed to have originated over many generations ago,
and is purported to be based on true accounts of an actual woman name Nak whose
faithful love for her husband defies death. In fact, the name Nak is so
connected with this ghostly legend that "Nak" has almost ceased to
become a viable name for new babies; hence you'll be hardpressed to find anyone
in Thailand sporting that name. (Ask anyone about Nak in Thailand and they'll
immediately know who, and what, you are talking about. It's that widespread.)
Because the legend is so well known, there have been
countless movies and TV series on the subject, but Nonzee Nimibutr's 1999
version is the first big budget adaptation I have seen. The story is a simple
one: a woman, whose husband is off fighting a war, dies while giving birth to
her son; still in love with her husband, the woman returns as a ghost and
welcomes her husband home. Although the rest of the country village that the
family resides in knows Nak is dead, the husband doesn't, and believes
everything to be okay. In an effort to keep her husband with her, Nak terrorizes
the villagers in order to keep them quiet about her true unearthly state.
Nonzee Nimibutr, probably the most controversial Thai
director working today, directs "Nang Nak" with his usual eye for
aesthetics and penchant for heavy melodrama. Nimibutr is responsible for "Jan
Dara," the first Serious Art House Movie I've seen to come out of
Thailand. Like that other movie, "Nang Nak" is a lush film filled with
haunting imagery; its scenes in and along a river are some of the most beautiful
renderings of the Thai countryside I've seen. Because the film doesn't seek to
date itself, you're never sure when the movie takes place, or even what the war
that Mak (the husband) is supposed to have gone to fight is. In those ways, the
world of "Nang Nak" seems to exist outside the realm of time, much
like the ghostly Nak herself.
"Nang Nak" is billed as a ghost movie, but is in
fact not very scary at all. The film is mostly content with subtle ghostly
moments for much of its running length, with a few quick bursts of gore
in-between. The horror elements are so lacking that for the most part the film's
attempts at horror come across as comical. In one scene, the villagers consider
bringing in a "ghost banister" (which I believe is some kind of
ghostbuster) to battle Nak; and in another, a man rushes out into a pouring
storm with his machete, screaming challenges to Nak, only to have his neck
snapped. Ho-hum.
What does work best is the film's interpretation of Nak
(pronounced "Nog", like "cog"). Nak is a homely, kind woman
who simply loves her husband too much, and it is this love that prevents her
from passing over. Nak anguishes over the possibility of never being able to be
with Mak again, and even as a ghost, she worries that her time with him will not
last forever. Despite being a ghost, Nak comes across as probably the most
humane character in the whole film thanks to actress Intira Jaroenpura, who
mixes next-door beauty with intense vulnerability.
Ironically, had the film remained only a ghost story and
kept out the horror elements (such as Nak's revenge on a woman who stole her
ring, or a villager who attempted to warn Mak), "Nang Nak" could have
earned its stripes as a haunting ghost story. Why turn a film about an immortal
love story into a film about a ghost that whips up harsh rainstorms and breaks
people's necks? It just doesn't make sense, and the film would have been better
if it had stayed true to its roots – that is, Nak's neverending love for Mak,
and her desire to live happily ever after.
In one triumphant scene, "Nang Nak" maintains its
ties to the rest of the Nak movies that have come before it by including a scene
where Nak, having dropped a lemon through the kitchen floorboards, extends her
hand ala Plastic Man to retrieve it. Although insignificant to the movie as a
whole, that one scene is akin to the wedding sequence in "The
Godfather." The film just wouldn't be the same without it.
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