I don't think you got the plot, and you say you watched it twice? with or without subtitles?
The first time I watched it was without subtitles, the sex scenes disturbed me so much I thought it was the most disgusting movie I'd ever seen. Then I downloaded a set of subtitles and watched it for a second time. This time my view changed completely.
The cover on the DVD/VCD is misleading, one might think that Christy Chung's character is the leading person. She's not, Jan Dara is. The whole movie is about his life, from how he was conceived to him growing old (to his 30s I think).
The story started with him telling us about the first memory he had: his dad having sex with his aunt right in front of him. Then we're told his mother died giving birth to him, and that left his father in despair and called him a damned bastard from that point on.
His dad loved women, and he would bed any girl he laid his eyes on, even if they're only children. His aunt came from the countryside to Bangkok to take care of him. His father couldn't stand the lonely days, so he started bedding his aunt. And from that came a little girl, who would become one of his biggest nemesis later.
As the girl grew, her father (Jan Dara's dad) taught her to also despise Jan Dara, leaving his aunt the only one who truly loves and believes in him.
A nanny was later hired to look after the little girl. While living in their house, the nanny hooked up with the cook's son, and they would sneak out to have sex every chance they got. During this time, the cook's son had become best friends with Jan Dara, and he soon introduced the then 17 yr old Jan Dara to his first experience of sex with the free help of the nanny.
One day the nanny and the girl caught Jan Dara's aunt and dad (the girl's parents) having sex, and the nanny touched the girl sensuously.. it was from that point on that the nanny and the girl had formed a special bond..
Soon the girl found out about the nanny's relationship with the cook's son, and she became jealous and would often throw tantrum fits. She would hit or blackmail the cook's son just to feel better.
Jan Dara's dad brought his former girlfriend (whom he was with before he married Jan's mom) to live with him. The girlfriend (Christy Chung) soon seduced young Jan Dara and they became lovers.
The most beautiful part of the film came when Jan Dara met Hyacinth and was head over heels into her. She was pure, unlike anyone he'd ever known. They dated, but it was not long before Jan Dara was sent away after being falsely accused of molesting his half-sister.
Jan Dara asked his aunt who his real father is. In tears, she told him that his mom was raped by her (the aunt's) then-boyfriend and got pregnant as a result and was arranged to marry his now "father" to cover up the mysterious pregnancy. Then Jan left to live with his grandfather in the countryside and decided to do everything he could to find more about his real father.
A few years after he's gone, his half-sister (or rather, cousin) got pregnant by her own father, and he was summoned back to marry her to cover up the family's dark secret. He also found out the Hyacinth had died of Typhoid a couple years ago after he left. Probably feeling guilty and ashamed , his dad gave the property to Jan Dara. On the wedding day, Jan Dara had a quickie with one of the maids at the reception in his father's study. While trying to find his wedding ring on the floor, he looked up only to find his mother's portrait hanging on the wall, staring straight at him. He felt ashamed, for he had become exactly what his father was.
Christy Chung's character saw him on the stairs one day and they became lovers again. She told him that his father had long been impotent, so she hadn't been satisfied. One time they were having wild sex in her bed (after reading a kama sutra book), his father walked in and saw them. The old man had a stroke and fell down. After that, the only thing he knew how to do is breathing.
Jan Dara's wife gave birth, she called him "cursed." Undoubtedly this kid would not be normal.
The Pacific War broke out. Bombing everywhere. Jan Dara helped everyone hide underground, but he could not find his wife or his lover anywhere. He went to her house, walked in on the two women having sex. He was shocked but later was explained by his wife that this had been going on ever since he was sent away years ago. She told him that she knew about him and "Christy Chung"'s character and she wouldn't mind, as long as he allowed his wife to share the same woman. Jan Dara then demanded that he needed a son if nothing else from his wife. Being only interested in girls, his wife refused to copulate. So he forcibly raped her, and she bled a river. After that he felt bad and never forced on her again.
Then he found out he's become impotent too, and he's not an old man yet.
The story ends here with Jan Dara telling us what really happened to his mother all those years back: she was raped by his aunt's boyfriend, then by another gang of at least 5 people. When she found out she was pregnant, it was impossible to tell who's the father. Remember it was in the early times, like 1920s or 1930s, no DNA technology.
Also, his aunt had gone to live peacefully as a nun.
This is the whole story of Jan Dara, not what I would call moving, but it's really sad, for a human to live in an environment like that and even sadder to see him follow exactly his father's steps.
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fasta
19 years ago
A few years after he's gone, his half-sister (or rather, cousin) got pregnant by her own father, and he was summoned back to marry her to cover up the family's dark secret.
I seem to miss the clue about the father pregnanted the daughter. Where did it said? (initially I just thought she was pregnanted by somebody unknown). And since she was a lesbian, does that mean her father raped her? Also, I don't understand that in a society where it is unacceptable to get pregnant if a girl is not married, then why is it acceptable to marry her half-brother (although in reality they are cousins, but most people don't know that)?
EDIT: Also, I don't understand why the father gave the house to Jan. In order for him to agree to marry his daughter?
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zgreatscot
17 years ago
The father gave the house to Jan partly because it was to persuade Jan to return to the house to marry his daughter and also because the house originally belonged to Jan's mother. The house was given to Jan's father in exchange for him marrying Jan's mother. So everything comes to a full circle in the end.
I completely missed the clue where it said the father impregnated the daughter. I hardly thought she would have wanted to have sex with any man, let alone her father. The only explanation would have been rape.
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Kinematico
16 years ago
I guess the whole thing about Khun Kaew (The daughter) getting pregnant by his father either was made-up by the poster who commented that, or he knows something than the rest of us don't.
I didn't see any clue that could lead me to believe that. Of course I don't know thai, so I had to rely on the subtitles translation. But what I understood is that Khun Kaew got pregnant by a mysterious unknown man, his name is never mentioned. Someone might suspect that Khun Luang (The father) was the culprit, but as far as I know could have been anyone.
It's not clear, and I guess we'd need to read the novel in order to confirm if the son was the product of an incestuous relationship between Khun Kaew and his father, or not.
About the OP comment: C'mon! haven't you ever seen erotic movies before??? This movie at most could be considered "Softcore erotic"; Not even "softcore porn" where full frontal nudity, both from men and woman, are shown, plus the sex scenes are even more explicit.
But some people are way too puritan! Please don't watch "Caligula" or "Betty Blue"!
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comage
15 years ago
Not sure if this comes late, but whatever:
In the show, there is no explicit mention that the child born by Khun Kaew was from Khun Luang. However, the below points would suffice as evidence:
1) Khun Kaew curses the baby when he is born. She obviously knows where the baby's father, and is ashamed of the fact.
2) When Jan Dara is looking at the boy (already a child of a few years' age) playing with some toys with a nanny, we see that his face has the look of a retard, a child with Down syndrome.
3) There is one scene of the boy running around a fountain in circles playing with a toy. He is laughing with the sound of a retard child.
Jan Dara obviously didn't screw Khun Kaew before she bore the child, so if there is a child coming out as a retard, it's got to be Khun Luang.
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karlweb2002
15 years ago
yes, the father pregnant his own daughter.
Some lesbians also want to have sex with men. The father is not her first man. She had it with the cook's son too.
from Taiwan china
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cdz6969
12 years ago
Yes the father impregnated his own daughter.. but it was not implied weather it was rape or consensual. This is why Jan Dara tells his sister/cousin never tell either the two wives of her father (Christy Chung / his aunt) who the father of the baby really is. Although since she called the baby a curse when it was born, it's more likely he raped her, probably after he found out she was a lesbian.
Something I did miss was if the Step-Father really loved Jan Dara's mother? It seemed like he was obsessed with her picture while having sex with other women and staring at it. And why did her parents force her to marry him out of all people? Did they have a prior relationship before they got married?
Jesus would support Universal Health Care
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