At Last!!! A decent Thai movie...
At last!!! There's a decent Thai movie out at the cinemas, something I've waited almost a year (they don't come around that often) to see. There have been other flicks that promised so much, eg. 'The Bedside Detective', which, despite being made by the same guy who made 'Peuan Sanit' turned out to be a limp, slapstick romance and 'Peuan', the infamous 'gay' movie, great until the 2 leads shagged each other and then pretty lacklustre afterwards...
So what's the name of this movie ? 'Rak Haeng Siam' (its late.. am too lazy to try and write it in Thai...), or, in English, "The Love of Siam." At first I thought that the English name was a bad translation. Surely "Love IN Siam" (since most of the plot is set in and around Siam Square) sounds better. Then, I realised it's a clever play on words. Sure, it could be the Love in Siam Square, the area of Bangkok reknown for being full of trendy teens, acting out their sugar coated, puppy love romances. Then I realised "Love of Siam" is probably also meant to be a wider reflection of love in Thai society. Not just love between a couple of giddy teenagers, but between families and friends too.
The story follows the lives of Mew, a young singer songwriter enjoying sucess with his pop group and Tong, his old neighbour and one time best friend.
When Tong sees and recognises Mew in Siam Square, the 2 boys rekindle their friendship. Hormones rage as they try to work out their identities, and the nature of their friendship. The 'am I gay ??? or straight ???' scenes are sensitively handled. At one point the 2 boys look like they are about to kiss. The whole audience ooooed and aaaaahed as the boy's heads and lips moved towards each other and, finally, cheered out loud when the guys got well into their first, full blown snog.
The bright posters at Major adverstise a teen film, but it's not. Sure, teens play most of the leads but, in many ways its a very adult movie. There are several interveaving storylines, dealing with the nature of love, and loss and how different people cope with it.
The movie is almost like a Thai teen version of one of my favourite English films 'Love Actually.' The season, the run up to christmas, is the same. So is the idea of contrasting storylines, showing the characters dealing with love in their own way. It even, like 'Love Actually' ends with a giant sing song, and leaves the viewer to decide how each character's life progresses.
What's refreshing about the movie is the teen take on it. The teenage characters come out with surprisingly deep reflections on the idea and definition of love. The way that the teenage boys recognise, and try to deal with their emotions is quite (in the case of the 'gay-ish' scenes... for a Thai movie...) brave.
If there's any criticism of the movie, its probably a touch too long. The pre-title scenes, showing Mew's relationship with his grandmother are well done, but probably superflous to the plot. In places it's also a touch overly sentimental, but hey, we're talking about Thai teenagers here. In a country where 30 somethings are still crazy about hello kitty, its normal to see teenage girls attached to things like teddy bears, and for them to be so crazy about a guy that they will look do-ey eyed and become very giggly in their presence. The way the Donut and Ying, the 2 girls behave in the movie, would probably annoy many westerners. It's as if the 2 girls want to be as girly and dumb as physically possible, but, it's no different from the way Matayom kids act in school, when the guy of their dreams appears in front of them.
If there's only one Thai movie you go to see this year make sure its this one. It works on so many levels. It's a cheesy feelgood romance, a sensitive family drama and a teen 'coming of age' movie all rolled into one.
Its a movie that makes you think about who and how you love... about how you see love, how much your own definition of love is based on what you experienced in your teenage years...
Plus it's almost Decemeber. Chances are, there won't be anything better on this year.
| Create Date : 24 พฤศจิกายน 2550 |
| Last Update : 24 พฤศจิกายน 2550 0:55:11 น. |
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Have a nice weekend.