Mekong Hotel (2012) Movie Script
Did I play it in Spanish,
yesterday?
Yes.
And as if it were buels too.
How did I play it?
It must be difficult.
Why am I playing this an octave lower ?
Wait a minute.
Damn, I forgot
my own melody.
What to do?
Each t-shirt bears the name "Joe".
I only have a pair of pants, and one jeans.
These loose ones
and these skinny ones.
They make my crotch look nice.
You need to lose weight.
I weighed 174 pounds,
now I weigh 161.
They are cut just
to show it.
Jeans stay tight,
they always do.
I think
you look better in your black t-shirt.
I have many black ones.
That with a dog.
The necked one.
I prefer the disco one.
The silver one.
- This one ?
- Yes.
She said:
"Being a Laotian,
"I think that the floods
in Thailand...
"are the
Emerald Buddha's weapons
"trying to go back to Laos"
Are you okay?
It 's disgusting.
What happened to him?
It seems he has been eaten
by a ghost, a pob.
- Is it your dog ?
- Yes.
Its interior has been devoured
like in a outdoor projected movie,
in a temple.
A pob is a female ghost.
Scary.
He lived with me
since he was two months.
Poor beast.
Yesterday we were still together.
- Oh yes?
- I played with him.
How'd you get in?
I live right here.
- At Aunt Jen's place?
- Yes.
The house with the green roof.
Why bury him here?
It is my home.
The bananas plantation.
And you came in...
I've never seen you before.
But I saw you.
I only know Aunt Jen,
no one else.
- You are ?
- Phon. And you ?
Tong.
So Aunt Jen has a daughter.
I'll come and say hello,
next time.
All right.
Poor dog.
Have you heard about the
ghosts, pobs?
Yes, but I did not know that
our village had one.
Aunt Jen told me
that pobs eat
humans beings and livestock.
They eat humans ?
That's what I have heard.
But I'm not sure.
Uncle Maan told me the same.
Do you know him?
I know him.
Be careful.
It's frightful.
Have I already asked your name ?
Yes.
What a memory!
I am Phon.
I am Tong.
You can forget my name
but you cannot forget my face.
And I know where you live.
My wandering soul has been condemned
to remain under water.
It was dark and cold.
I did not know to be
a ghost, a pob.
My daughter, I am so sorry.
I am so sorry.
I know,
I am not a human being.
But I could not tell you.
I was ashamed.
Please forgive me.
You're beautiful today.
Are you swimming today ?
No. The current is too strong.
Would you come with me?
No, I cannot swim.
You can hold on to my back.
This scares me even more.
Have you received a text message this morning?
Yes.
By whom ?
At the beginning
I did not know, but ...
It could only be you,
there is no one else.
Really ? From no one else ?
Who else ?
- Do you believe me ?
- No.
Your t-shirt is beautiful.
You bought it, remember ?
Of course I remember.
Shall we ?
All right.
- Watch out.
- Wait a minute.
What's this vase on the floor?
It's to imprison
the spirit of the pob.
Remember,
she ate my dog.
Yes.
Has the vase been blessed?
Yes, by a monk.
But it has to be blessed again.
They worship the princess.
This one here, not the other ones.
They hang her image
everywhere on the street.
They say
she saves them all.
She receives many gifts.
She gives a lot of herself.
not like the others.
- Have you already seen her ?
- No.
I was not there
when she came.
What she has visited?
Our village.
Why ?
She came to see
how its people were.
- An excursion.
- Yes, somehow.
To oversee the economic
self-sufficiency program.
"Repeats Guitar
second day - Hotel Thai-Lao ".
We do not grow any legumes,
nothing like that.
We take care of them
only when the princess comes.
When she leaves, fishes
turn into spicy lettuce.
Does she come frequently?
What about the others?
Not so often.
She is the only one.
- Don't you want to meet here ?
- No. I don't care.
- What about your mother ?
- No, we were in Bangkok.
But we watched the news.
And we saw my grandmother
in the front row.
So admired.
Elders are like that.
When the royal family
is visiting ...
But your generation
loves the movie stars.
- Not me.
- Why not ?
I do not go crazy
for them.
So you're not a fan of anyone ?
No. I would be indifferent
if a star would come by.
But people here say:
"How beautiful you are
with your new face lift."
They get excited for nothing.
- It's scary.
- Go on, go on.
What a shame.
How long have we resisted?
Masato...
Get up and go look at the sun.
I was 14, almost 15.
Did you have a gun?
The army has instill
love for the nation,
for the community in us.
It was incredible.
We were trained
like real soldiers.
They gave us guns
and they showed us how to load them.
- You know how to load them? ?
- Yes.
- Can you shoot ?
- Yes, I still remember the way.
There was a trainer
for each one of us.
They align us
in firing position.
Everything was very organized.
While also laying down too,
with a support
to place the rifle.
It was an easy position.
We were also standing,
and on one knee,
a position that I used for the M-16.
The M-16 had a strong recoil.
The effect was so abrupt
that I used to fall backwards.
We had a lot of fun.
I wasn't afraid
during these two or three months.
- Months ?
- Yes.
We were asked to love our nation,
our village and ourselves.
To protect them,
I was ready to kill.
They have trained us
everyday
until
we have been indoctrinated.
Your boyfriend.
the guy
you chat with?
What if the airport is closed?
- Will he come here?
- Yes.
He'll stay here.
- Here ?
- We'll stay together.
Will you get married?
I don't know.
We've are together at the moment.
- What's his name?
- Frank.
- Frank. Is he German?
- No.
He's Thai.
Oh no! He's American.
He speaks German.
He's been in the army in Germany
for two years.
With all these floods...
- Yesterday I called the owner ...
- The owner.
I asked him
when your sister
can leave.
He said the shop
remains open...
Until it'll be flooded.
Until light and
electricity will be cut off?
They announced several days
of vacation starting from tomorrow.
Really ?
- Today is the 26th.
- From the 26th to the 30th.
It's tomorrow, until the 31st.
She said:
"Who will look after my dogs?"
Buses don't accept
dogs.
She's also adopted a cat
at work.
She feeds it.
She said: "I set aside
some instant noodles"
What if there's a power cut?
It'll happen sooner or later.
A lot off people
have uploaded their photos online.
I told her to save
her salary
to come up here by bus.
She'd better come here,
since we cannot predict
the water level.
Her boyfriend
cannot come.
No, the bank
is still open.
Banks
are not allowed to close.
Who is allowed to leave ?
The bank decides.
The Prime Minister
announced the vacations.
But it'll depends on the companies,
if they decide whether or not to close.
They should close.
Some people
should stay in their place.
Senior officers
can leave, they said.
The whole city of Bangkok will be flooded.
The flood control system
will be destroyed here and there.
How many bags of sand
did they ask for?
A million.
Where will they find them?
A million ?
There is nothing to look at.
What about the news ?
What brand is it ?
You're not good at it.
- Where is it ?
- Bangplad.
Where do you live ?
Far away. There won't be any flood there.
Don't you take it for granted.
Water doesn't pay any attention.
Does someone listen to it?
Beware, children,
water will enter
into your mouth.
How will you manage ?
Water will penetrate
your wounds.
I won't venture out.
The Phon's apartment
is located on the mezzanine floor.
First, a boat
cost 2500 bahts.
Then the price went up to 7000,
and now, it's 10 000 bahts.
15 000 bahts in Banguathorg.
- Really ?
- Yes, according to the news.
At the beginning, the government launched
the "bamboo boats" project.
People criticized it:
"Is this all they
come up with? "
Where do we go find the bamboo?
Eventually, manufacturing them
costs 500 bahts, they are the cheapest ones.
But where is the bamboo ?
The forest ranger
has a lot of it. They gave it to us.
I wonder how
the people of Bangkok
will be able to build their rafts.
With plastic bottles.
All stuck together.
When I was young, I used
large plastic bins.
A large bin per person
is sufficient.
Where has all this happened?
In Bangplad.
The Laotians came after
the border was closed.
They came here, and then ...
they were stopped
at the police stations.
But police stations...
Did they migrate here ?
Yes, but the police stations
were crowded.
A fund was created
to build
a refugee camp.
They wrote down a list.
Every refugee had a dossier
and received an ID card.
The hill tribes
were separated from Laotians.
They could file an asylum
application in a third country.
It wasn't easy.
Some failed
the language test
and couldn't leave.
- Did they make a test?
- Yes, and interviews too.
Thai people
married to Laotian people
chose to go to France.
Back then I was jealous.
They run away and got to our place...
I didn't know where the
aids had arrived from or how.
I was too young.
There were trucks
who delivered cereals,
dry legumes
and many other things.
They came every week.
It was like a country within another country.
There was a soccer field
and a market.
- Why were you jealous ?
- A school, a temple.
- Why jealous ?
- I didn't have enough to eat.
And they
were so well fed.
There were more and more of them.
I saw them arrive in crowds.
So I decided ...
Mom.
Mom!
Where are you ?
I know you're here.
Please, get out of his body.
My daughter, I miss you.
Please, go back in your vase.
The vase ?
They broke it.
Phon ?
Is this your wandering soul ?
Yes.
You still remember me ?
Yes.
I remember you.
I fell sad.
I'm not sure...
I still love you.
It was a long time ago.
But you said you loved me
by the riverside.
Now, I'm married.
I have children.
I'm old now.
I'm losing my memory.
Believe me, Masato.
Don't go.
I want to go home.
Don't go...
Please.
Can you hear me, Masato ?
I know, I'll reborn into a horse.
And into different species of
insects.
I don't know
how long it takes ...
before returning human again.
I 'll reborn into a child
in Philippines.
And I know
you'll always follow me.
Why
don't you stop, then?
I can't...
for the same reason of yours.
What are you looking for ?
Your spirit can travel
out of your body
while you're still alive,
with this machine.
No one doubts the existence of the spirit.
He knows you're here.
But he doesn't care.
Because everyone
has their own path.
His spirit may wander everywhere...
until the battery is discharged.
Believe me, Phon.
He doesn't care.
What about you ?
You know...
that he is I
and I am he.
Where are you now ?
After all these years...
It's so painful.
Where are you ?
Can i reach you ?
I'm still in my room.
It's 600 years now.
I'm not far from this world.
I used
to believe in God.
I used
to believe in something...
who has given
a pleasant odor to the flesh...
who has given
a delicate flavor to the blood...
and created me.
And who rules...
all the things,
so that they are put in order.
I'll be there, Mom.
I will not leave you anymore.
I am disgusted
by this ferocity.
I hate it...
that my life is taking this path.
I hate it.
I am disgusted of being...
what I am.
Go to bed, Mom.
We'll be together.
Our memories are mixing together.
A floating tree emerges.
Then a second one.
A third and a fourth.
And so on.
Their roots
stretch in open air.
The details are more visible.
Some leaves
resume their shape...
like two wandering souls
that are rebuilding...
their universe.
A river
appears in the garden.
The Mekong River has its source
in a far country.
In the Altai mountains ?
Doesn't he look like a child, that guy
on the jet ski ?
Yes, a street child.
Have you already done that?
Yes, with my first boyfriend.
No, not the first.
Let me count.
The third.
They sail along
one side of the river.
- Have you already done that?
- Yes.
Off the island of Samui,
with my brother.
And I was feeling
a pleasant pain in my ass...
yesterday?
Yes.
And as if it were buels too.
How did I play it?
It must be difficult.
Why am I playing this an octave lower ?
Wait a minute.
Damn, I forgot
my own melody.
What to do?
Each t-shirt bears the name "Joe".
I only have a pair of pants, and one jeans.
These loose ones
and these skinny ones.
They make my crotch look nice.
You need to lose weight.
I weighed 174 pounds,
now I weigh 161.
They are cut just
to show it.
Jeans stay tight,
they always do.
I think
you look better in your black t-shirt.
I have many black ones.
That with a dog.
The necked one.
I prefer the disco one.
The silver one.
- This one ?
- Yes.
She said:
"Being a Laotian,
"I think that the floods
in Thailand...
"are the
Emerald Buddha's weapons
"trying to go back to Laos"
Are you okay?
It 's disgusting.
What happened to him?
It seems he has been eaten
by a ghost, a pob.
- Is it your dog ?
- Yes.
Its interior has been devoured
like in a outdoor projected movie,
in a temple.
A pob is a female ghost.
Scary.
He lived with me
since he was two months.
Poor beast.
Yesterday we were still together.
- Oh yes?
- I played with him.
How'd you get in?
I live right here.
- At Aunt Jen's place?
- Yes.
The house with the green roof.
Why bury him here?
It is my home.
The bananas plantation.
And you came in...
I've never seen you before.
But I saw you.
I only know Aunt Jen,
no one else.
- You are ?
- Phon. And you ?
Tong.
So Aunt Jen has a daughter.
I'll come and say hello,
next time.
All right.
Poor dog.
Have you heard about the
ghosts, pobs?
Yes, but I did not know that
our village had one.
Aunt Jen told me
that pobs eat
humans beings and livestock.
They eat humans ?
That's what I have heard.
But I'm not sure.
Uncle Maan told me the same.
Do you know him?
I know him.
Be careful.
It's frightful.
Have I already asked your name ?
Yes.
What a memory!
I am Phon.
I am Tong.
You can forget my name
but you cannot forget my face.
And I know where you live.
My wandering soul has been condemned
to remain under water.
It was dark and cold.
I did not know to be
a ghost, a pob.
My daughter, I am so sorry.
I am so sorry.
I know,
I am not a human being.
But I could not tell you.
I was ashamed.
Please forgive me.
You're beautiful today.
Are you swimming today ?
No. The current is too strong.
Would you come with me?
No, I cannot swim.
You can hold on to my back.
This scares me even more.
Have you received a text message this morning?
Yes.
By whom ?
At the beginning
I did not know, but ...
It could only be you,
there is no one else.
Really ? From no one else ?
Who else ?
- Do you believe me ?
- No.
Your t-shirt is beautiful.
You bought it, remember ?
Of course I remember.
Shall we ?
All right.
- Watch out.
- Wait a minute.
What's this vase on the floor?
It's to imprison
the spirit of the pob.
Remember,
she ate my dog.
Yes.
Has the vase been blessed?
Yes, by a monk.
But it has to be blessed again.
They worship the princess.
This one here, not the other ones.
They hang her image
everywhere on the street.
They say
she saves them all.
She receives many gifts.
She gives a lot of herself.
not like the others.
- Have you already seen her ?
- No.
I was not there
when she came.
What she has visited?
Our village.
Why ?
She came to see
how its people were.
- An excursion.
- Yes, somehow.
To oversee the economic
self-sufficiency program.
"Repeats Guitar
second day - Hotel Thai-Lao ".
We do not grow any legumes,
nothing like that.
We take care of them
only when the princess comes.
When she leaves, fishes
turn into spicy lettuce.
Does she come frequently?
What about the others?
Not so often.
She is the only one.
- Don't you want to meet here ?
- No. I don't care.
- What about your mother ?
- No, we were in Bangkok.
But we watched the news.
And we saw my grandmother
in the front row.
So admired.
Elders are like that.
When the royal family
is visiting ...
But your generation
loves the movie stars.
- Not me.
- Why not ?
I do not go crazy
for them.
So you're not a fan of anyone ?
No. I would be indifferent
if a star would come by.
But people here say:
"How beautiful you are
with your new face lift."
They get excited for nothing.
- It's scary.
- Go on, go on.
What a shame.
How long have we resisted?
Masato...
Get up and go look at the sun.
I was 14, almost 15.
Did you have a gun?
The army has instill
love for the nation,
for the community in us.
It was incredible.
We were trained
like real soldiers.
They gave us guns
and they showed us how to load them.
- You know how to load them? ?
- Yes.
- Can you shoot ?
- Yes, I still remember the way.
There was a trainer
for each one of us.
They align us
in firing position.
Everything was very organized.
While also laying down too,
with a support
to place the rifle.
It was an easy position.
We were also standing,
and on one knee,
a position that I used for the M-16.
The M-16 had a strong recoil.
The effect was so abrupt
that I used to fall backwards.
We had a lot of fun.
I wasn't afraid
during these two or three months.
- Months ?
- Yes.
We were asked to love our nation,
our village and ourselves.
To protect them,
I was ready to kill.
They have trained us
everyday
until
we have been indoctrinated.
Your boyfriend.
the guy
you chat with?
What if the airport is closed?
- Will he come here?
- Yes.
He'll stay here.
- Here ?
- We'll stay together.
Will you get married?
I don't know.
We've are together at the moment.
- What's his name?
- Frank.
- Frank. Is he German?
- No.
He's Thai.
Oh no! He's American.
He speaks German.
He's been in the army in Germany
for two years.
With all these floods...
- Yesterday I called the owner ...
- The owner.
I asked him
when your sister
can leave.
He said the shop
remains open...
Until it'll be flooded.
Until light and
electricity will be cut off?
They announced several days
of vacation starting from tomorrow.
Really ?
- Today is the 26th.
- From the 26th to the 30th.
It's tomorrow, until the 31st.
She said:
"Who will look after my dogs?"
Buses don't accept
dogs.
She's also adopted a cat
at work.
She feeds it.
She said: "I set aside
some instant noodles"
What if there's a power cut?
It'll happen sooner or later.
A lot off people
have uploaded their photos online.
I told her to save
her salary
to come up here by bus.
She'd better come here,
since we cannot predict
the water level.
Her boyfriend
cannot come.
No, the bank
is still open.
Banks
are not allowed to close.
Who is allowed to leave ?
The bank decides.
The Prime Minister
announced the vacations.
But it'll depends on the companies,
if they decide whether or not to close.
They should close.
Some people
should stay in their place.
Senior officers
can leave, they said.
The whole city of Bangkok will be flooded.
The flood control system
will be destroyed here and there.
How many bags of sand
did they ask for?
A million.
Where will they find them?
A million ?
There is nothing to look at.
What about the news ?
What brand is it ?
You're not good at it.
- Where is it ?
- Bangplad.
Where do you live ?
Far away. There won't be any flood there.
Don't you take it for granted.
Water doesn't pay any attention.
Does someone listen to it?
Beware, children,
water will enter
into your mouth.
How will you manage ?
Water will penetrate
your wounds.
I won't venture out.
The Phon's apartment
is located on the mezzanine floor.
First, a boat
cost 2500 bahts.
Then the price went up to 7000,
and now, it's 10 000 bahts.
15 000 bahts in Banguathorg.
- Really ?
- Yes, according to the news.
At the beginning, the government launched
the "bamboo boats" project.
People criticized it:
"Is this all they
come up with? "
Where do we go find the bamboo?
Eventually, manufacturing them
costs 500 bahts, they are the cheapest ones.
But where is the bamboo ?
The forest ranger
has a lot of it. They gave it to us.
I wonder how
the people of Bangkok
will be able to build their rafts.
With plastic bottles.
All stuck together.
When I was young, I used
large plastic bins.
A large bin per person
is sufficient.
Where has all this happened?
In Bangplad.
The Laotians came after
the border was closed.
They came here, and then ...
they were stopped
at the police stations.
But police stations...
Did they migrate here ?
Yes, but the police stations
were crowded.
A fund was created
to build
a refugee camp.
They wrote down a list.
Every refugee had a dossier
and received an ID card.
The hill tribes
were separated from Laotians.
They could file an asylum
application in a third country.
It wasn't easy.
Some failed
the language test
and couldn't leave.
- Did they make a test?
- Yes, and interviews too.
Thai people
married to Laotian people
chose to go to France.
Back then I was jealous.
They run away and got to our place...
I didn't know where the
aids had arrived from or how.
I was too young.
There were trucks
who delivered cereals,
dry legumes
and many other things.
They came every week.
It was like a country within another country.
There was a soccer field
and a market.
- Why were you jealous ?
- A school, a temple.
- Why jealous ?
- I didn't have enough to eat.
And they
were so well fed.
There were more and more of them.
I saw them arrive in crowds.
So I decided ...
Mom.
Mom!
Where are you ?
I know you're here.
Please, get out of his body.
My daughter, I miss you.
Please, go back in your vase.
The vase ?
They broke it.
Phon ?
Is this your wandering soul ?
Yes.
You still remember me ?
Yes.
I remember you.
I fell sad.
I'm not sure...
I still love you.
It was a long time ago.
But you said you loved me
by the riverside.
Now, I'm married.
I have children.
I'm old now.
I'm losing my memory.
Believe me, Masato.
Don't go.
I want to go home.
Don't go...
Please.
Can you hear me, Masato ?
I know, I'll reborn into a horse.
And into different species of
insects.
I don't know
how long it takes ...
before returning human again.
I 'll reborn into a child
in Philippines.
And I know
you'll always follow me.
Why
don't you stop, then?
I can't...
for the same reason of yours.
What are you looking for ?
Your spirit can travel
out of your body
while you're still alive,
with this machine.
No one doubts the existence of the spirit.
He knows you're here.
But he doesn't care.
Because everyone
has their own path.
His spirit may wander everywhere...
until the battery is discharged.
Believe me, Phon.
He doesn't care.
What about you ?
You know...
that he is I
and I am he.
Where are you now ?
After all these years...
It's so painful.
Where are you ?
Can i reach you ?
I'm still in my room.
It's 600 years now.
I'm not far from this world.
I used
to believe in God.
I used
to believe in something...
who has given
a pleasant odor to the flesh...
who has given
a delicate flavor to the blood...
and created me.
And who rules...
all the things,
so that they are put in order.
I'll be there, Mom.
I will not leave you anymore.
I am disgusted
by this ferocity.
I hate it...
that my life is taking this path.
I hate it.
I am disgusted of being...
what I am.
Go to bed, Mom.
We'll be together.
Our memories are mixing together.
A floating tree emerges.
Then a second one.
A third and a fourth.
And so on.
Their roots
stretch in open air.
The details are more visible.
Some leaves
resume their shape...
like two wandering souls
that are rebuilding...
their universe.
A river
appears in the garden.
The Mekong River has its source
in a far country.
In the Altai mountains ?
Doesn't he look like a child, that guy
on the jet ski ?
Yes, a street child.
Have you already done that?
Yes, with my first boyfriend.
No, not the first.
Let me count.
The third.
They sail along
one side of the river.
- Have you already done that?
- Yes.
Off the island of Samui,
with my brother.
And I was feeling
a pleasant pain in my ass...