{"id":25011,"date":"2024-07-22T23:35:17","date_gmt":"2024-07-23T03:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=25011"},"modified":"2024-07-22T23:35:38","modified_gmt":"2024-07-23T03:35:38","slug":"nyaff-operation-undead-entertains-with-blood-and-existential-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=25011","title":{"rendered":"NYAFF : Operation Undead Entertains with Blood and Existential Drama"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtesy of \u00a9 2024 Infocusasia Co., Ltd.<\/em><\/p>\n

The <\/span>New York Asian Film Festival 2024<\/b><\/a> is hosting the World Premiere of <\/span>Operation Undead<\/b><\/a>, a zombie-movie from Thailand that offers a new and very interesting take on the genre. Set during World War II, the story talks about a group of soldiers dislocated in a beautiful and uncontaminated island in the Ocean, when a Japanese battalion brings there a chemical weapon that turns all of them into flesh-eaters monsters. Even if turned into monsters, the young soldiers are still capable of owning their own thoughts and most importantly their feelings, something that will make them clash against the invaders who just want to make experiments with both them and the other citizens in the island.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Written and directed by <\/span>Kome Kongkiat Komesiri<\/b>, <\/span>Operation Undead<\/b> works on many levels. First of all is the entertainment of a movie that endorses the genre with more than one sequence that has nothing to envy to the forest zombie-movies of the past. Visually, Komesiri\u2019s work is absolutely effective, mixing the beauty of the natural setting with the grittiness of the special effects. His movie is bloody, often disgusting and incredibly still somewhat elegant. Something definitely not easy to achieve.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/ins>\n

The second level is the metaphor, which maybe could\u2019t strike like original but that doesn\u2019t mean it isn\u2019t working. Quite the opposite actually. The horror of war can turn human beings into monsters, can dehumanize the soldier until they become pure killing machines. This is the message that Operation Undead conveys to the audience, especially through the two main characters, two brothers that became soldiers for totally different reasons: the eldest Mek (<\/span>Chanon Santinatornkul<\/b>) deeply believes in the honor of serving his Country, while the younger Mok (<\/span>Awat Ratnapintha<\/b>) is way more disillused and has joined the Youth Soldier Unit because he doesn\u2019t have many more options in his life. <\/span><\/p>\n

The psychological dynamics between the two characters are the fuel that pushes the engine of the plot in a powerful way. The screenplay develops with precision the different characters and their struggles with trying to understand each other. When the virus starts spreading and turning the soldiers into living dead, the relationship between the two brothers becomes even more compelling, delivering at least two or three scenes where the pathos is even more entertaining that the genre side. If <\/span>Operation Undead <\/b>works so well on both levels is also because the performances of <\/span>Chanon Santinatornkul<\/b> and <\/span>Awat Ratnapintha<\/b> are clearly capable of reaching the heart of the viewer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Operation<\/p>\n

Courtesy of \u00a9 2024 Infocusasia Co., Ltd.<\/em><\/p>\n

Instead of the usual, shallow popcorn toy for just a two-hours guilty pleasure, <\/span>Kome Kongkiat Komesiri<\/b> has delivered a zombie-movie that deals with a lot of difficult topics, first of all the tragedy of World War II and the painful involvement of Thailand. <\/span>Operation Undead<\/b> isn\u2019t an arthouse movie trying to use the genre in an obscure way, on the contrary it exploits its topoi with intelligence and a joyful taste for gore. But other than that it is capable of presenting a good story with plot twists that work well and most importantly a bunch of bi-dimensional characters, capable of making the viewers empathize with them and their tragic fate. <\/span><\/p>\n

In the end the real monsters in this horror movie are those soldiers that care way more about creating an unstoppable weapon in order to win the conflict than about their own citizens. The idea of giving the brain-eaters a brain and a soul makes them the real \u201cheroes\u201d of the story, creating an original short-circuit that elevates the tension of the storytelling. <\/span>Operation Undead<\/b> in this way operates inside its own genre but is also capable of exploring different topics and tones, showing with precision the existential drama of its characters. The entertainment is granted by the bloody and bold mise-en-scene, but there is way more than that in this movie. A truly welcomed surprise.<\/span><\/p>\n

Grade: B+<\/strong><\/p>\n

Check out more of Adriano\u2019s articles.<\/a><\/p>\n

Here’s the trailer for Operation Undead:<\/p>\n