Tiger by the tale: out Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul rocked Cannes with his soldier-boyfriend-tiger romance Tropical Malady. Now U.S. audiences will get a look

Young Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul blames his film career for not having a boyfriend. Talking in San Francisco recently on the occasion of a U.S. retrospective in his honor, he explains, "I think guys are afraid of me because to be with me now would mean being so public, and in Thailand people prefer not to attract attention. Me too. But it's too late for that now; it's my karma." I promise "Joe" (as he likes to be called in the West) I'll include this detail for Advocate readers: Yes, he's gay, and he's available.

Considering that Joe is based in Bangkok, a virtual destination for the gay imagination, his loneliness seems an anomaly. But he's quick to turn the tables, pointing out the ads in a local paper: "No, it looks to me as though San Francisco is the sex capital of the world."

Joe's films are a revelation. Set in villages and forests, they look beneath the surface of Thai life. He exposes his characters to an unblinking scrutiny, probing their yearning, desire, and heart-break with eyes wide open. At only 34, this enfant terrible with an MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago and a growing reputation in Europe already boasts a signature style. His newest film, Tropical Malady, opens in New York City on June 29 after making history as the first Thai film ever to screen in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

Tropical Malady is a wildly erotic film that traces a romance between a soldier and a village youth, then suddenly shape-shifts into a fable about a forest ranger (who just might be the same soldier) and his romance with a tiger (who just might be a ghost).

This is a film to see in the movie theater, not on DVD, for the spell it casts over the audience. Mixing pop culture and village wisdom, Joe focuses our attention on male bodies and female stories.

There's an emotional resonance seldom found in hipster urban dramas, and a sexiness that could knock you right out of your seat. "I think my film has been taken up in Thailand by university students and more mature, open audiences," he says. "And if smart gays think it's their movie too, that's fine with me."

The mix of elements comes naturally to Joe, who grew up in Khon Kaen, a small village in northeast Thailand. His parents were doctors who practiced there but also took the family traveling internationally. Despite his cosmopolitanism and urban base today, Joe is still most at home in villages. How about growing up gay in one, though? "I knew I was gay as a child, and I knew I felt uncomfortable, but it was not a big issue for me," he says. "It's quite natural." The problem, he explains, is that he wasn't a transvestite: "That's the only idea that most Thai people have of homosexuality. You have to be flamboyant if you're gay. There's just one word that means both 'transvestite' and 'gay' in Thai."

That stereotype explains why Joe's excursion into popular moviemaking, The Adventures of Iron Pussy, codirected with its star Michael Shaowanasai, was a bigger hit than any of his art films. Who could resist the sight of Shaowanasai morphing from a shop boy into a transvestite superhero modeled on legendary Avenger Diana Rigg? Yet Joe refuses to be pigeonholed into comedies. "In Buddhist culture being gay is the result of bad karma," he says. "I know this is against the whole gay movement's beliefs."

Yet he's become more Buddhist since his father's death in 2003.

Joe has a film company in Bangkok with three compatriots where he turns out lots of short videos--serious ones--with titles like Boys at Noon and Secret Love Affair. He likes to think of himself in the mold of the old Hollywood directors, who were always working and churning out product--but with the experimental approach that he discovered in art school.

His next film will be set in a hospital, a space charged with childhood memories, and it will most likely contain a love story or tale of heartbreak if it's going to be a true Apichatpong Weerasethakul film. As Joe says, "It's universal. When you're attached, you suffer. It's Buddhism 101. It doesn't matter if you're gay or straight."

Gay faves at Cannes

A checklist of the gay successes on the Croisette at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival

Living celebrities were all over the place, but this year the Cannes Film Festival belonged to James Dean. Posters sporting his image dotted the Croisette; East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause screened in the festival and on the beach late at night for the public. And a documentary about Dean's life--which is included in the new DVD boxed set of his films--had a sold-out screening. Other than Dean, who might have come out had he lived longer, lots of the festival thrills involved gay films and filmmakers. A few highlights:

Last Days by Gus Van Sant: This meditation on the demise of Kurt Cobain ends the nonlinear series of art films Van Sant began with Gerry and continued with Elephant, which won the Palme D'Or in 2003. The Museum of Modern Art in New York announced it would screen all three on July 20--a nice capper for Van Sant.

Where the Truth Lies by Atom Egoyan: The Canadian auteud's new mystery split critics, but everyone agreed that a very steamy lesbian encounter for Alison Lohman (not to mention the nudity of stars Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth) would fascinate the MPAA.

Odete by Joao Pedro Rodrigues: An almost campy Portuguese film by the director of O Fantasma, The story about a man mourning his gay lover echoes Vertigo but is most convincing when displaying the sexy cast, especially star Nuno Gil.

Time to Leave by Francois Ozon: This lovely chamber piece about a rude gay fashion photographer who finds out he has only months to live is a return to the haunting style of Under the Sand.

Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream by Stuart

Samuels: Documentary on how movies like Pink Flamingos and The Rocky Horror Picture Show changed Hollywood films. John Waters is hilarious in interviews, but even better is the archival footage of him coaching Divine.

Volver by Pedro Almodovar: The already legendary Spanish director returns to comedy with stars Carmen Maura and Penelope Cruz. And in 2006 eight Almodovar classics--including Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Law of Desire, Bad Education, and Talk to Her-will be rereleased in the United States, then packaged as a DVD boxed set.

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