Tears of the Black Tiger
Overview
Tears of the Black Tiger is a 2000 Thai
Cinema of Thailand
The cinema of Thailand dates back to the early days of filmmaking, when King Chulalongkorn's 1897 visit to Bern, Switzerland was recorded by Francois-Henri Lavancy-Clarke. The film was then brought to Bangkok, where it was exhibited...

 western film
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...

 written and directed by Wisit Sasanatieng
Wisit Sasanatieng
Wisit Sasanatieng is a Thai film director and screenwriter of Chinese descent...

. The story of a tragic romance between Dum, a fatalistic
Fatalism
Fatalism is a philosophical doctrine emphasizing the subjugation of all events or actions to fate.Fatalism generally refers to several of the following ideas:...

, working-class hero, who has become an outlaw, and Rumpoey, the upper-class daughter of a provincial
Provinces of Thailand
Thailand is divided into 76 provinces , which are geographically grouped into 6 regions. The capital Bangkok is not a province but a special administrative area and is included as the 77th province since it is administered at the same level as the other 76 provinces. The name of the provinces are...

 governor, it is equal parts homage to and parody of Thai action film
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...

s and romantic
Romance film
Romance films are love stories that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films make the love story or the search for love the main plot focus...

 melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...

s of the 1950s and 1960s.

The film was the first from Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 to be selected for competition at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival
2001 Cannes Film Festival
The 2001 Cannes Film Festival started on May 14 and ran until May 25. The Palme d'Or went to the Italian film The Son's Room by Nanni Moretti.-Jury:* Liv Ullmann, President * Mimmo Calopresti * Charlotte Gainsbourg...

, where it was critically hailed.
Quotations

It seems that life is just a long and terrible sadness and so we must hunger and chase after happiness and the smallest hope of reprieve 'til the end of our days.

Oh this is a laugh! Who'd have thought the fearless Black Tiger ... crack shot, fastest man in the land, was also a master of the harmonica?

Dum's been stabbed! Get help!

You're just a nameless corpse, Dum!

[Upon seeing Rumpoey] Well, what a peach! No wonder Dum's obsessed!

Dum! So you're still not dead!

"[While praying in front of a Buddha with Dum]" By everything sacred in this world, I, Mahesuan swear, with Buddha as my witness, I'll always be true and loyal to my blood brother, Dum, the Black Tiger who saved my life. If I break this oath, may his gun end my life.

This is my law: If you betray Fai, you will die!

[Preparing to execute a traitorous gang member] See this? The coin has a hole in it. Somchit, if my bullet can't get through it, you live. But if it can, you die!

My law is simple: Whoever betrays Fai, dies!

 
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