shamanism), the place of gender roles in the world (the men in a family bloodline die in result of the consequences of their own actions while the women are always destined to be of subservience). With its plentiful room in its long runtime (just over two hours), Pisanthanakun establishes his characters and conflicts with efficiency and ease notably conflicting views on religion (Catholicism vs. While the film lacks originality within its confines of the found-footage/mockumentary format, The Medium succeeds in delivering the punchy scares and heart-curdling suspense that audiences strive for. Does The Medium live up to those expectations?
With such talents collaborating, expectations are understandably high. The film started off in development as a sequel to The Wailing following the shaman character but it became The Medium once the filmmakers came to realize the many striking similarities of shamanism in their native countries. The Medium is a Thai-South Korea Pan-Asian co-production led by the filmmakers of the acclaimed hits The Wailing (from co-writer/producer Na Hong-jin) and Shutter (from co-writer/director Banjong Pisanthanakun). But through thorough investigation, the more the crew and Nim begin to realize that Mink may be possessed by something else entirely. She discovers that her niece Mink ( Narilya Gulmongkolpech), a happy-go-lucky recruitment officer who does not believe in shamanism, has been exhibiting strange behaviours that may hint that she may be possessed. Being possessed by Ba Yan meant that you were chosen to be a medium for her. She claims that she was possessed by the spirit of Ba Yan, a deity that the people of Isan worship and a significant presence in Nim’s family as she has been possessing the women there for generations. The young people had different problems.Both reached the apogee of their unforgettable talents at ages fifteen and twenty-eight in their first major roles.Leo Coleman has to be seen to believed,particularly as he plays a mute to a pair of hyper-dramatic women leads.Their five minute ensemble,"Why weeps my child unborn?"must have had Val Lewton gnashing his teeth that he hadn't thought of it first.For this is great story telling as well as compelling music.In fact the script is so good I can hear some disgruntled Gothic fan complaining ,"Why did they want to slow it down with all the singing?" Composer-writer-director-photographer Menotti on this occasion assumed the Orson Welles persona very credibly.To my knowledge it would be nearly thirty years before he tried anything as ambitious a second time,a haunting televised version of his script "Vanessa " during the late seventies.But that's quite all right.It is what the last Romantics are about.The Medium tells the story of a Thai documentary team who are travelling to the region of Isan to follow the life of the local medium Nim ( Sawanee Utoomma). How many such are there in any century? The two youthful co-stars give equally impressive and perfectly integrated performances.With Powers it is our loss that there simply never are enough good dramatic roles for powerhouse actresses who first come on at age fifty. Ms.Powers must be seen to be believed ,and this film offers the only opportunity that either the majority of her contemporaries or all of posterity has to do so.In the very late fifties or early sixties,this reviewer wandered into a lower New York Church and found he had accidentally caught the unviewable Powers live.She was playing Noah's Wife and doing it to the hilt.She could handle religious folk comedy as lightly as she had swept us along the road to damnation with Madame Flora and the hapless Romany boy,Toby.And there were perhaps two hundred locals in the audience, to whom she was giving all that the role could take.I have seen Maria Callas live and Licia Albanese.There is no question Powers stands in that world class of great singer actresses. I have never been able to find a recording from her Italian heyday in the USA.Maybe this is not such a loss. Marie Powers ,an expatriate American married to a respected but uninfluential Italian opera conductor,had a reputation as a Wagnerian interpreter among Italians who preferred Germanic opera. For this film brought together three dynamic performers, who had no where better to go cinematically. This film certainly did not lack for admirers in its own day.It took the Cannes Award for best lyrical drama(lyrical is not exactly the best word to describe what is going on)and received BAFTA and Oscar nominations.It was a conversation piece for years after."Were you ever able to see it?" and later,"Whatever happened to Marie Powers?","Wasn't that Leo Coleman flitting through the Fellini movie?" And ,sorrowfully, it was.
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