''The Unseeable'' ( th, เปนชู้กับผี; ; literally "Committing Adultery with Ghost") is a 2006 Thai horror film directed by

Wisit Sasanatieng Wisit Sasanatieng ( th, วิศิษฏ์ ศาสนเที่ยง; ; born June 28, 1963) is a Thai film director and screenwriter of Chinese descent. Best known for his colourful debut feature film, ''Tears of the Black Tiger'', he is ...

. This is the first film of another writer's screenplay by the director. The writer is

Kongkiat Khomsiri Kongkiat "Kome" Komesiri ( th, ก้องเกียรติ โขมศิริ, born 2 June 1975, in Thailand) is a Thai film director and screenwriter. Film career He graduated from the Faculty of Mass Communications at Bangkok Univers ...

, one of the "Ronin Team" credited with directing the 2005 Thai horror film ''

Art of the Devil 2 ''Art of the Devil 2'' ( Thai: ลองของ or ''Long khong'') is a 2005 Thai horror film directed by Kongkiat Khomsiri, Art Thamthrakul, Yosapong Polsap, Putipong Saisikaew, Isara Nadee, Pasith Buranajan and Seree Pongniti (known collecti ...

''.

Plot

Set in 1934 Siam, the story involves a young pregnant woman named Nualjan who's searching for her missing husband. She comes to stay in the spooky rural mansion of a

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word can so ...

, Runjuan. The overgrown property is managed by the stern caretaker Somchit and inhabited by a number of other people, including another young woman, Choy, who becomes Nualjin's friend, as well as an old woman, a little girl and a man who is seen at the back of the property, digging a hole.

Cast

* Supornthip Choungrangsee as Runjuan () * Siraphun Wattanajinda as Nualjan () * Tassawan Seneewongse as Somchit * Wisa Kongka as Choy ()

Origins

''The Unseeable'' marks a change for

, who made his mark with the colourful

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

, ''

Tears of the Black Tiger ''Tears of the Black Tiger'' ( th, ฟ้าทะลายโจร, or ''Fa Thalai Chon'', literally, " the heavens strike the thief") is a 2000 Thai action-adventure film written and directed by Wisit Sasanatieng. The story of a tragic roma ...

'' and the romantic-comedy, '' Citizen Dog''. With his third film, Wisit was restrained by budgetary concerns from the stylizations of his first two films, but in doing so he was able to make it an homage to films of the 1930s and the stars of that era, including

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her pe ...

and

Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway theatre, Broadway. Crawford was si ...

. Thai pop culture influences come from illustrator Hem Vejakorn, who wrote a series of 10- satang

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

ghost stories in the 1930s and '40s. The reference was so striking that the Barom Khru Foundation, which claims to supervise Hem's works, issued a statement warning

Five Star Production Five Star Production Co. Ltd. ( th, ไฟว์สตาร์ โปรดักชั่น) is a Thai film production company. It was founded in 1973 by Kiat Iamphungphorn and is today headed by his children, Aphiradee and her younger brothe ...

to not violate the copyright of Hem's work. However, Wisit said the film was not an adaptation of any of Hem's works but was generally inspired by Hem's style.

Reception

Festivals and awards

* 2007

Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film The Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFFF), previously named Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film (french: Festival international du film fantastique de Bruxelles, nl, Internationaal Festival van de Fantastische Fil ...

2007 Bangkok International Film Festival The 2007 Bangkok International Film Festival was held from July 19 to July 29, 2007, at SF Group's SF World Cinema at CentralWorld. The fifth consecutive year for the festival, organizers planned a program of about 100 films, with an emphasis on ...

(ASEAN competition) * 2007

Cinemanila International Film Festival The Cinemanila International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Manila, Philippines. It was founded by Filipino filmmaker Amable "Tikoy" Aguiluz in 1999. The focus of the festival is on the cinema of the Philippines as well as Southea ...

* 2007

Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards () is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. It was founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan. The awards ceremony is us ...

–

NETPAC The Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) is a worldwide organization of 29 member countries. It was created as the result of a conference on Asian cinema organized by Cinemaya, the Asian Film Quarterly, in New Delhi in 1990 at the ins ...

Award

References

* Thai Cinema News, May 20, 2006
Cannes 2006 report
ThaiCinema.org.

Notes

External links

Official Thai site

Official English-language site
*
Trailer at American Film Market
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unseeable, The 2006 films Five Star Production films Thai ghost films Thai-language films Thai horror films Films directed by Wisit Sasanatieng Films set in 1934 Thai supernatural horror films