Kobori - Thongchai
McIntyre
Ungsumalin - Apasiri Nitiphon
The movie opens with the funeral of a Japanese soldier. A Thai worker nearby asks why this soldier has been given priority over the others and is told that it is because the soldier's wife is here.
Four years before.
Ungsumalin is still a
student. The name of Siam is being changed to Thailand next month.
Her classmates laugh at her for being patriotic when she talks
about having to defend her country in case of war. When she
reaches home from school that day, she finds out that the father
of her lover Vanus, who is also the village chief, has asked for
her hand in marriage. Despite her relationship with Vanus, she
finds herself unwilling to commit herself, and when Vanus comes
to see her one last time before he goes to England, the only
promise she will make is that she will meet him, when he returns,
under the Lumpoo tree to give him her answer.
Meanwhile, Japan declares war and is Kobori as a new recruit
saluting his parents for the last time before he leaves with his
troops. Months of war pass, and when Kobori finally reaches
Bangkok, he is a navy captain.
Ungsumalin is curious about the invaders and cannot resist
swimming down the river to their base. Kobori is repairing a boat
but as the hood of the engine is blocking him, Ungsumalin thinks
the boat is empty but Kobori comes out and startles Ungsumalin,
who falls back into the water. He pulls her out and tries to
greet her in Thai but she splashes water in his face and swims
away.
Some time later,
Ungsumalin is helping her mother in the market selling vegetables.
Because she is pretty and can speak Japanese, many Japanese
soldiers try to buy vegetables from her but she refuses to sell
them any. Kobori comes with his soldiers to the market too and
recognises Ungsumalin. At first she refuses to sell him her
vegetables but her mother intervenes so she is forced to let him
have them. Kobori insists on buying all her vegetables so she
raises the price to a hundred baht. When Kobori drives off,
Ungsumalin's neighbours are jealous and make rude comments about
her.
Meanwhile, two men, Pol and Bua, whom Ungsumalin knows are caught
stealing from the Japanese base. They are going to be executed by
water torture. When Ungsumalin sees them suffering, she speaks up
for them. Kobori is in charge and is determined to execute them
as a lesson for other Thais. He refuses to listen to her and even
orders the soldiers to speed up the execution. Ungsumalin's
mother begs her to go home as she is only making the situation
worse. However after Ungsumalin leaves, Kobori stops the
execution and releases the men.
Pol and Bua still bear a grudge against Kobori, and when
Ungsumalin's mother invites Kobori and his friend, a Japanese
doctor to dinner as they helped Ungsumalin's grandmother recover
from malaria, they plot to kill him. After the dinner, when
Kobori and the doctor leave, they mask themselves and try to
murder him. Ungsumalin and the doctor stop them but Kobori is
severely injured. Kobori thinks that Ungsumalin knew about the
plot all along but she is truly sorry that he has been injured.
Kobori is convinced that Ungsumalin hates him.
One day, a British prisoner escapes and swims across the river.
He seeks shelter from Ungsumalin and she hides him because her
father is one of the leaders of the Free Thai Movement. The
Japanese want an alliance with the Thais and they decide to marry
Ungsumalin to Kobori, who is the nephew of a high-ranking
Japanese official. Neither Ungsumalin nor Kobori are happy about
the engagement. Ungsumalin goes to ask her father to release her
from the engagement. Unfortunately, when she gets to her father's
house, the Japanese are questioning him and she is forced to lie.
She and her father plan to smuggle the British prisoner out of
Thailand. On the day of the engagement ceremony, Pol and Bua hide
the British in a boat. They leave just as the party come out of
Ungsumalin's house. The soldiers want to investigate the boat but
Kobori tells them they are not on duty. The doctor tells Kobori
that he has sacrificed duty for love.
Later Kobori tells Ungsumalin that he has known all along that
the engagement was only a cover up for the British to get away,
and that she did not love him. Ungsumalin feels guilty but
remembers Vanus.
Both Kobori and Ungsumalin are unable to stop the wedding and
they are married in a traditional Japanese ceremony. Kobori
promises Ungsumalin that she will remain a virgin and that when
Vanus returns, he will leave her. After the first night, Kobori
returns to the base to stay and applies for a transfer to Burma.
However, his application is not granted and he gets drunk. Pol
and Bua bring him to Ungsumalin's house instead and Kobori rapes
Ungsumalin by accident. Ungsumalin refuses to forgive him and
even says that if she had a baby, she would teach him to hate
Kobori. Gradually, she forgives Kobori and even begins to fall in
love with him, but she still believes it would be unpatriotic to
love a Japanese.
The Japanese base is bombed one night and Ungsumalin panics when
she realises Kobori might be injured. She goes to look for him
and is so happy when she sees he is unhurt. Now that the base is
destroyed, Kobori stays with Ungsumalin and this is the happiest
time of their lives. But Vanus writes that he is returning to
Thailand and their peace is destroyed. Ungsumalin discovers she
is pregnant. Kobori is overjoyed but she is not. When Vanus is
captured by the Japanese, she uses the baby to threaten Kobori
for Vanus' safety. She throws herself down the stairs to try and
miscarry. Kobori thinks that she cares for Vanus enough to kill
their baby and locks himself in his room at the base.
The doctor comes to check on Ungsumalin, who did not miscarry
after all, and she asks him to tell Kobori she is sorry. Kobori
wants to give the relationship another chance and decides to
visit her before going to collect some new machinery at Bangkok
Noi.
Vanus also visits Ungsumalin and when Kobori reaches her house,
he sees her hugging Vanus. Kobori leaves without talking to her
and does not know she has told Vanus that she does not love him
any more. Vanus finally realises Ungsumalin does not care for him
and gives her back her promise. He warns her not to go to Bangkok
Noi because the underground is carrying out a sabotage and leaves.
Ungsumalin vows never to make another mistake again and goes to
the base to tell Kobori that she loves him. When she reaches the
base, the doctor is mobilising troops to go to Bangkok Noi which
was bombed. He tells Ungsumalin that Kobori had gone to the
station. Ungsumalin insists on going to Bangkok Noi with the
medical troops and when she reaches there, sees the whole station
is in flames. She finally finds Kobori under a pile of wood,
badly injured. She calls the doctor but Kobori knows that there
is nothing he can do and tells him to go to the others who needs
help. He also tells the doctor to say goodbye to everyone for him.
Ungsumalin finally tells Kobori that she loves him but it is too
late. Kobori promises to see her at the Milky Way and dies in her
arms.
