The Scar tells the simplest of love stories. Cherd Songsri (who co-wrote the film under the pseudonym “Thom Thatree” as well as directing it) called it a film about an “immaculate love”. It’s based on a story published in the 1930s by Mai Muangderm, but its roots are much older. Kwan and Riam are villagers who conduct much of their courtship on the backs of water buffalo and pledge eternal love to each other under a huge sai tree on the San Saeb canal in Bankapi. But their rural idyll is shattered when Riam is called away to the capital Bangkok and finds herself caught up in the style and sophistication of city life. As a modernist fable The Scar bears comparison with Murnau’s classic Sunrise, and its elegant tracking shots evoke another master, Max Ophüls. Nothing like it had been seen in Thai cinema in the 1970s; it was a popular success, became the first Thai film to win a prize in the west, and is widely accepted as a landmark in Thai film culture. Khun Cherd died of cancer in 2006; this restoration has been long-awaited. (Tony Rayns)