In the western tradition, the prince must wake up The Sleeping Beauty with a kiss.
In this brief and haunting story from Mattie Do – the first woman to direct a feature film in Laos with 2013’s Chanthaly – the exact opposite transpires to be true. Instead of leaving the slumbering princess in the ruined Ankor temple in the jungle, where she belongs, Philippe (Gabriel Soutphilabaideng) brings her back to his home. The son of a local woman, Dao (Sonedala Sihavong) who married a colonial governor, they are disconnected enough from the stories of their heritage not to realise that she brings with her a terrible curse.
This conflict between the old ways of the Laotian people and the dismissive arrogance of the colonisers lies at the heart of The Sleeping Beauty. Dao is warned by her housekeeper (Sivilay Ouanephongchareune) that allowing her son to keep the body – soon a visibly decomposing corpse – in the house will spell its ruin, and that she should know better. If she’d taught her son the old stories, he would too.
Instead, Dao is paralysed with indecision even when her husband succumbs to a fever and the rot of the curse takes root. Do handles the horror well, with a couple of shocking moments – most notably Dao seeing her son with a gaping hole in his chest where his heart should be. Jimmy LaValle’s music, on the other hand, maintains an almost dreamlike fairy tale quality, holding the film in a space between misty fantasy and straight-up horror. It’s a tone that Do manages well, making this a strangely beguiling but haunting fable.
Director: Mattie Do Cast: Sonedala Sihavong, Gabriel Soutphilabaideng, Sivilay Ouanephongchareune Screenplay: Christopher Larsen Producers: Chatchai Chaiyon, Jakrawal Nilthamrong Cinematography: Mart Ratassepp Editing: Zohar Michel Music: Jimmy LaValle Sound: Alexandre Boyesen
Art direction: Phumidon Khongphoem
Costume design: Production company: Wayward Entertainment (USA) Venue: Oldenburg Film Festival (Shorts)
In English, Lao, French 20 minutes
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