Wisit Sasanatieng's TEARS OF THE BLACK TIGER is as assured and dazzling a directorial debut as an individual can hope to deliver. Stylistically electrifying, the film combines filmmaking techniques from the 1960s with a modern jolt of blood and violence, resulting in a work that feels completely fresh and new. The story itself is simple enough: a lower-class boy, Dum, falls in love with a wealthy girl, Rumpoey, but their social differences keep them apart. Years later, Dum returns home only to discover that his father has been murdered by a gang of brutal outlaws. Traumatized by this event, Dum becomes a renegade bandit who will stop at nothing to avenge his father's death. When he reconnects with Rumpoey, she's slated to marry the policeman who has been trying to track down Dum. On her wedding day, Dum (aka Black Tiger) takes matters into his own hands so he can fulfill his dream of being with Rumpoey once and for all.

Bursting with Technicolor imagery, an incredibly catchy soundtrack, and enough visual pyrotechnics for three or four movies, TEARS OF THE BLACK TIGER plays tribute to the unheralded era when Thai genre films put that country on the cinematic map. If it wasn't for the graphic violence that splashes across the screen throughout the film, one might think they were watching a picture that was actually made in the 1960s--it's that convincing.