Wonderful Town tells a well worn tale of a love affair that's pulled apart by a jealous relative. Set in Takua Pa, a Thai town that was devastated after the 2004 tsunami, the relentlessly slow manner in which the romance blossoms is painful to behold, lacking the passion, intensity, and transcendence a film this sparse demands.
The two leads are defined by their occupations. Ton is an architect who is sent to the town to oversee the construction of a new building. A constant traveller, he has a freedom that is distinct from Na, who lives in and runs her family's mostly empty hotel, leading a lonely and insular existence. Her brother is a washed up ex-gangster who seemingly has nobody left to terrorise in Takua Pa's empty streets.
Thin on dialogue and glacially paced, the film struggles in vain to accrue power through weakly developed symbolism (waves, roads, empty houses) that never feels appropriately connected to the narrative, existing merely as a way to fill the void that lies at its heart. The violent twist in tone in the final minutes is similarly incoherent and evidently a means to provide a jazzy finish to the uninspired hum that precedes it.
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