Choo

The 'sin' of the title is adultery: a young (very beautiful!) wife falls in love with a new young (extremely handsome!) man, but to her dismay she realises that the young man is actually her new husband's prodigal son, who is visiting his father for the first time in ten years. The husband/father is a totalitarian figure - the local 'chief' of the small island owning a large fleet of boats - and both the new wife and the son have been damaged by his vicious actions... With this premise, the director Ong-Art Singlumpong goes about creating a lyrical vision of romantic love, using as his main setting a tropical Thai island. The colour scheme is delicious with its deep greens and blues, and there is a high contrast between dark and light that matches the melodramatic nature of the film. The underwater scenes are absolutely exquisite. For the most part, the dialogue is minimal, particularly when the lovers are together, although there are also moments of comic relief from their friends. For me, the best moments are the quiet and telling moments of reverie that emphasise the subjective experiences of the characters - for example, when the wife (Ream) is shown holding a tiny tube of lip-gloss, Singlumpong zooms in and uses slow motion so that you know exactly what (and who) she is thinking of. A lovingly told tale of love.