Writer-director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's idiosyncratic fable, whose title loosely translates into English as "Transistor Love Story", is dedicated to the murdered 60s Thai C&W star Surapol Sombatcharoen, several of whose songs adorn the film's soundtrack.

Adapted from a popular Thai novel, the film is narrated by an elderly prison guard, relating the picaresque tale of the handsome but naïve country-boy Phaen (Suppakorn Kitsuwan), who marries the beautiful Sadaw (Siriyakorn Pukkavesh) against her father's wishes.

Having been conscripted into the army, however, our hero goes AWOL and heads to Bangkok, aiming to win fame and fortune as a singer. Two years later and still afraid to contact his family, Phaen finds himself relying on a break from untrustworthy gay impresario Suwat (Somlek Sakdikul), who's taken a shine to the young man's looks. Back in the countryside, a lonely Sadaw finds herself falling for a smooth-talking travelling salesman...

Made by the producers of the ambitiously stylized Thai Western "Tears of the Black Tiger", "Monrak Transistor" is a colourfully shot illustration of life's unpredictable twists and turns.

"A piece of candy with just a taste of satirical poison at its centre," is how Ratanaruang himself describes his film, and he certainly avoids travelogue clichés in his vision of his homeland.

The spirited performances of Kitsuwan and Pukkavesh as the young lovers, some amusing set-pieces (such as an impoverished Phaen and his pal Siew (Ampon Rattanawong) crashing a charity benefit for the homeless), and the retro songs of longing and regret compensate for the sometimes rambling narrative.

In Thai with English subtitles.