This was a random find in a Hollywood Video sales rack, nestled next to the dozens of copies of Generic Film #58.2.07. I noticed the Thai name in the bottom-left corner, and my interest was piqued; since watching Ong-bak, and Born to Fight, I’ve wondered what other Thai genre films were out there. The plot description on the back was intriguing, and I decided to see what a Thai gangster comedy would be like.
6ixtynin9 was released in 1999, about the same time that Guy Ritchie had established himself in the West as a hip, talented director of stylish gangster films spiked with black comedy. This film also has a fair share of comedy, mostly at the expense of the tough, but unintelligent, criminals who try to unravel the mystery surrounding their money. This comedy, however, is delivered in a very straight fashion, without the rapid cuts, catchy music, and grinning actors featured in Ritchie’s work.
In fact, though many comments I’ve come across online describe this movie as a gangster comedy (as do some of the blurbs on the box, but then, anyone who’s read my review of Arturo Perez-Reverte’s The Nautical Chart knows my feelings about blurbs!) 6ixtynin9 is more adequately described as a tragedy. The cinematography is static, with barely any cuts used to accelerate dialogue or action. The violence is short, desperate, and realistically brutal. The characters are no more remarkable than next door’s neighbors, and completely free of the gloss that covers most big-budget stars.
Compare this with Guy Ritchie’s frenetic style, which presents a violent subject through a montage of vignettes infused with comedy. Violence occurs in swift, rapidly cut scenes that give the action a stylish edge, and show just enough gore for effect, without dwelling on the act. Characters are either ruggedly good-looking, or intriguingly grotesque. Humor cracks inside each and every line, and the plot barely pauses during its gleeful hurtle towards conclusion.
This kind of light-hearted momentum is completely lacking from 6ixtynin9. In fact, the movie is slow at many points, and quite serious. The main character, Tum, is definitely a fish out of water, and stumbles through her attempts to keep the mob money that mistakenly ends up on her doorstep The criminal element is slow to react to this misplaced payoff, and pursues the mystery with a boorish clumsiness that leads each of them to a chance demise. The plot is consequently bounded by these character limitations, and proceeds at a halting pace in random directions.
The general incompetence of the characters underlines their impoverished state, and reinforces the sense of tragedy. Tum’s desperate situation is the result of a layoff that takes place at her job. She is barely able to afford food at the supermarket, and resorts to shoplifting to round out her needs. Meanwhile, the lifestyle that the criminals enjoy is not much better. Every character in this film is getting by, however they can, in a society that is not robust enough to reward honest work.
The film also feels small in scope. Most of the action takes place in Tum’s apartment, where the bodies continue to pile up. Only a few other locales are featured, which highlight the actions of the criminal element, and show Tum running a few errands about town. This lends the film a claustrophobic quality to it that is reminiscent of Hitchcock’s single-set films, such as Dial M for Murder. The result is not as successful, however, due to its drawn-out plot, and the sense that Tum must get out of her apartment, and the city, in order to survive. The fact that Tum keeps returning home to an apartment full of dead bodies starts to feel foolish, and one wonders why she hasn’t literally taken the money, and run for it.
Perhaps this is one reason why some people find comedy in the film: the bodies keep piling up in Tum’s apartment. In certain contexts, this plot device would be delightfully absurd, much in the way it is in Braindead. But this film is too serious for that kind of take on a growing body count. The random nature of the deaths, and the continual spectacle of stiffened remains, diminishes any sense of comedy. Tum’s solutions for the disposal of these bodies are naïve, rather than diabolical, and their final banishment occurs in an anti-climatic scene that is overshadowed by the whining protestations of a secondary character.
Some of the dialogue is humorous. The ineptitude of the criminals comes out in a few phone conversations, while one man sent to Tum’s apartment is so dramatically tough, his actions are nothing short of hilarious. Somehow, a John Woo-esque backward leap while simultaneously shooting just isn’t as balletic without slow-motion and white doves. The film does not hesitate to poke fun at criminals that are used to a habitual operation, and don’t have the slightest idea about how to sleuth out a mistake.
Yet this is a serious film, insomuch that it deals with realistic characters who are anything but heroic; and that it invites the full consequence of each violent act. Each death occurs without the bombastic glamour of other gangster films, and the resulting bodies become a liability that Tum is unequipped to deal with. Tum’s actions are motivated by desperation, and her goal throughout the film is strictly survival. The money that she finds is merely a tool to apply towards this goal, and represents nothing more ostentatious than a visa, and a plane ticket out of Thailand.
Why so many people have decided that this is a gangster comedy is a mystery to me. Yes, there are elements of humor in the film, but these are necessary to balance out the violence and tragedy attached to every character. The film is more concerned with the lives of a few, desperate people in contemporary Thai society, as opposed to a satirical take on (dis)organized crime. It is very conscious of its origin as a Thai film, and freely comments on aspects of Thai society.
This is what makes 6ixtynin9 a good piece of cinema. It is a Thai film that draws its characters from its society, and thrusts them into a complicated plot without the aid of heroics, or romance. Despite the criticism mentioned above, the film is enjoyable during some moments, and compelling throughout. Tum’s fate is largely uncertain, and her lack of creativity only further begs the question of how she will survive the story. The atmosphere is claustrophobic, and demonstrative of the high stakes that occur in any story, however small in scope it may be.
Viewers beware the blurbs and commentary that accompany this film: it is not a rollicking, stylish gangster film that toys with black comedy, but rather something much more thoughtful. It would be much better characterized as a “gangster drama,” or “crime tragedy.” These assignations aside, it is a film that reinforces the growing reputation of Thai cinema; and will impress viewers with its emphasis on human characters determined to survive poverty, and the whimsy of chance.
