Tears of the Black Tiger combines the early Clint Eastwood Western with Hong Kong and Thai films of the 1950’s and 60’s. Though it sticks to plot and acting that retain high melodrama and graphic violence, it has fun with all of the genres that inspired it, with many hysterical scenes that border on parody. The cultural combinations deliver scenes like two cowboys throwing their guns aside to swear a blood oath in front of a giant Buddha.

The thing you walk away with though is the film’s bold appearance. Its saturated colors, striking graphic compositions, and painted backdrops make the movie seem painted instead of filmed.

The striking visuals and Thai cowboys aside, the plot is a sad one. The moral of the story, that life is suffering, only punctuated by moments of happiness, was hard to take at the end of such exciting visuals and action. Without giving anything away, the ending simply left me depressed.

The film isn’t perfect, it even gets slow sometimes, but it’s beautiful to watch, and shows the new things that can happen when cultural influences collide.

The film was released in very few U.S. theatres earlier this year, but is now on DVD. If you have a chance to see it on the big screen, take it.

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More about the film: Wikipedia, Rotten Tomatoes