Mon-rak Transistor

and Sadao fall head over heels in love with each other at the country fair. And despite the not overtly warm welcome from Sadao's grumpy father, soon they are married. Everything's just peachy. But young hearts can't always run free. The adorable couple get separated as Phaen is forced to go off to do his military service and Sadao is left at home pregnant. Phaen is supposed to be gone only for a short while, but as soon as he has put on his uniform, he gets into troublesome adventures. He wins a singing talent show, but doesn't get the chance to become the big star he's been promised. He cuts sugar canes for a sadistic boss. And for a while he's even doing time. During his absence, Sadao is trustfully waiting by the transistor she received as a wedding gift. It, and their son, are the only memories left of her husband. Mon-rak Transistor is about the big city's temptations and the calmness of the countryside. And a love so strong that all the trials in the world cannot break it. Although director Pan-Ek Ratanaruang sometimes slips into moments of crude social commentary (like the hilarious scene where a broke and torn up Phaen goes to a charity gala at which the bourgeois have dressed up as homeless people), Mon-rak Transistor's main attraction is its warmhearted naïveté. Beyond its Candide-esque irony and moments of slapstick, in the end this film is basically a modern fairy tale for grown-ups. A really cute and charming one. MATTIAS DAHLSTRÖM