เชงเม้ง + เด๊ดสะมอเร่ : Will you go to Qingming or Hell?
by merveillesxx
On Saturday, I have just seen two stage plays that coincidently have something in common. The first is CHENG MENG and the second is DEADSAMORE. Both of them portray about life and death.
(SPOILER ALERT: the article below reveals the main plot of the play.)
1. CHENG MENG (เชงเม้ง) (2010, Chinnat Nopkham, A)
To my memory, I think I’ve met Chinnat many times as I attended Naked Masks’ stage plays. But I can’t exactly remember his name due to a great number of Naked Masks’ members. Anyway, after watching CHENG MENG (which I’m not sure whether it is his debut work or not.), I inevitably invite him to my ‘one-to-watch’ list.
CHENG MENG is about 4 people in Thai-Chinese family busily preparing things for Qingming Festival while the man who is the head of the family has disappeared for six months. The play presents many conflicts via its characters; the mother had an affair with a teenage boy, the son fell in love with a woman whose age was the same as his mom, the older brother kept a secret about his homosexuality, and there was a middleman who stuck in this family war.
Certainly, all the things mentioned above cause the atmosphere of dramatic, chaotic and astonishing tension. Let’s say that the play and all the characters are as bewildering as the Qingming fest. Luckily, the director has meticulously constructed the whole story, so the feeling of confusion is replaced by the delighted impression.
‘Alienation’ is the main thing that we can feel from the characters in CHENG MENG. Not only having a love affair that violated the norm of society, being gay in Chinese family, but also the fact that they couldn’t belong with the tradition descended from the ancestors anymore. They were going to hold Qingming but they really have no idea about the purpose of the fest. The significant question is: Why I (or we) have to do this?
Furthermore, the play has explored the existence of family system. Is it a value that we should keep or an inescapable trap that we should destroy? What is the concept of home? And should we call this place as home if everyone wants to run away from it?
Upcoming veteran actors, Khanchai Kleebkaraket and Kanittha Nongnuch, have contributed a beautiful and precise performance. There are two minor things that I slightly dislike in the play. First: the ending that I can feel an attempt about showing a sign of reconciliation. Second: the scene that the older brother talked to the audiences in break-to-forth-wall approach which is not convinced and unnecessary.
Personally, I think I can fit myself to the play because I came from Thai family which abandoned its Chinese root for a long time. By the way, this play has many universal elements for all kind of viewers. And I’m enthusiastically looking forward to a new material from Chinnat.
Photo by Picnic Chinnat
2. DEADSAMORE (เด๊ดสมอเร่) (2010, Nophand Boonyai, A+)
After directed about six impressive stage plays involved various themes -relationship (Sunflower), absurdity (Welcome to Nothing), childhood memory (The Adventure of Captain Dang), human behavior (Signs and Gestures), married life (The World According to Farida and Damkerng) and class (Grey Area; co-directed with Dujdao Vadhanapakorn)- this time, Nophand Boonyai is delving into ‘death’, the most unexplained thing in our life.
The man (Nophand) woke up in the unknown place. Then he was informed by the mysterious man (Keerati Sivakuae) -sitting and reading a Chinese newspaper indifferently- that he was dead. In the state of shocking, the apathetic guy forced him to accompany with. The story got more complicated when the aggressive girl (Suwanna Promtangtrakul) appeared and harshly declared that she wanted the deceased man as well.
Many things in DEADSAMORE are left for the audiences to interpret by themselves. For instance, we can’t be sure about the place in the story. Is it hell, heaven or the in-between world? And who are those mystifying guys? Are they a messenger of death or something? Nevertheless, all characters the protagonist has met are telling us important messages.
Keerati’s character enlightened the man that life is a kind of emptiness. While Suwanna’s memorable quote was about a hurtful thing we shouldn’t know. She described it like “When we are on a diet, we should not know there is a chocolate cake in the refrigerator because that will make us in pain.” Additionally, the strange hippy (Saifah Tanthana) lectured his philosophy concerned with the endless cycle of our world.
In my opinion, the strength point of the play depends on appealing characters and extraordinary performances. Nophand does a good job as always. Keerati still never lets me down (I’m glad to see him on stage again after his long absence). Saifah surprises me with his bizarre acting. Suwanna’s performance is irresistibly outstanding especially the way she goggles her eyes. I guess she will be one of the talented actresses in a little while.
We may define DEADSAMORE as a low-budget stage play. But its quality is flourished by well-crafted character design, sophisticated dialogue and also the brilliant soundtrack -The Sound of Music’s OST, Bowie’s The Man Who Sold the World, and Born Free; M.I.A.’s controversial latest single. All of them have been used in the unexpected way. (The Born Free scene is my most favorite part of the play.)
Although the play made me laugh frequently but actually DEADSAMORE was quite sad and gloomy. The most heartbreaking scene is when the protagonist couldn’t choose the best moment of his life. Not because he had a plenty of them but he admitted that he didn’t have one. (This part reminds me of Hirokuza Koreeda’s After Life.) We have lived our life through days, months, years and finally we don’t know anymore where we are.
Recently, the last sentence of the play is still on my mind. The girl said “I wish I had my cake too.” This metaphor is sharply and accessibly magnificent. When I came back home I want some cakes too. But not a chocolate one, I prefer coffee cake.
Photo by Joanna Iva
| Create Date : 30 พฤษภาคม 2553 |
| Last Update : 31 พฤษภาคม 2553 17:55:58 น. |
|
5 comments
|
| Counter : 2784 Pageviews. |
 |
|
|
ฝากข้อความหลังไมค์
Rss Feed
ผู้ติดตามบล็อก : 58 คน [
Films seen in this period
(Copy from my facebook)
1. The Beaches of Anges (2008, Anges Varda, A+)
Witty, Charming, Mourning and essentially Fulfilling.
"Cinema is my home, I live in it" - Varda said this while sitting in the house made of film reel. :)
2. Snow Angels (2007, David Gordon Green, A++++)
The delicate combination of dramatic plot, minor depression, ensemble cast, white snow, and post-rock music.
3. I Love You Phillip Morris (2009, Glenn Ficarra + John Requa, A-)
I love the last 15 minutes of the film. The scene Carrey lying on the bed is very moving. Ironically, the critics always say this is the best role of him since The Truman Show and Eternal Sunshine, which they (intentionally?) omit the fact that other movies are suck. Not the unmissable one, but it is a fine film. :)
สิ่งที่รำคาญมากๆ คือ คนแปลซับใช้ภาษาตุ๊ดว่า "เค้า" หรือ "ตัวเอง" เกือบทั้งเรื่อง ปวดกบาลมาก แถมพอจะดูชื่อคนแปลเสือกขึ้น "นิรนาม" !!
ป.ล. เคยเขียนถึงหนังเรื่องนี้ไว้ใน BIOSCOPE ฉบับ 88 ปก ก้านกล้วย 2 นะจ๊ะ
4. Sin Sisters 2 (2010, Sukij Narin, D+)
The film is f**king boring. It is a useless effort in every aspect. ถ้าคิดจะ HERE พี่ต้อง HERE ให้ได้มากกว่าภาคแรกครับ
สิ่งที่พบให้ภาคแรก ยังพบในภาคสองดังต่อไปนี้
1) การถ่ายภาพแบบโคลสอัพช็อตตลอด เวลา
2) ซาวด์แทร็กที่โผล่มาแบบไม่สนใจอะไรทั้งนั้น (แต่รำคาญสกอร์กีต้าร์ที่คลอตลอด เรื่องมากๆ แม่งเปิดเหมือนลืมปิด อีห่า)
3) twist ending (?)
อ้อ อีกสิ่งที่รำคาญมากคือ จะโชว์นม แต่ใช้แสตนด์อินตลอด แล้วมึงไปขุดแสตนด์อินจากขุมไหน มา ทำไมหัวนมมันดำขนาดนั้น
พวกนักแสดงไม่เห็นหัวนมนะ แต่ก็เห็นนมก้อนๆ เนื้อๆ เต็มๆ เพื่อนเราโทรมาถามว่ามีใครเล่น ดีบ้าง เราก็ตอบไปว่า "เหี้ยทุกคน เหมือนนั่งดู ญ นมโตๆ โง่ๆ สองชั่วโมง" (ขออภัยหากดู sexist)