Headshot
aka ฝนตกขึ้นฟ้า
2011
Based on the novel by Win Lyovarin
Written and directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang
Pen-Ek Ratanaruang’s Headshot follows a hitman who awakens from a coma to find he is seeing everything upside down. It’s called a metaphor, one that Headshot has the main character explain to everyone in case no one bothered to get the symbolism. Headshot is a stylish but plodding action noir, as hitman Tul is drawn back into the world of being a hired gun, and we get background information that explains where he came from.
The strengths of Headshot is the unexpected directions the story goes, the fact it suddenly becomes a road movie during a carjacking scene, the characters who jump in and out of the tale and when they reappear, it’s almost as if they are completely different characters. Headshot is brilliant but hindered by inconsistent decisions on whether to trust the audience to figure anything out.
On that, I’m especially insulted by Headshot explaining that seeing everything upside down is a metaphor for seeing everything a new way. Thanks, reporter from the International Journal of Duh! It’s also not that surprising when a character is mysteriously dead in a movie where there are hit men and rival factions. But don’t fret, you get told twice what really happened, in case you missed it the first time. Headshot should have just let us figure it out, trusted that we knew enough of the genre to make the connections. Yes, it is safe to go off the reservations, and Headshot does make those attempts, but those are the times when we need to get a bit of information.
Headshot throws in some great cinematography and sets, my favorite is the gun battle in the dark forest in the rain, making the chaos of violence even more unpredictable and dangerous.
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