http://screenville.blogspot.com/2007/09/afternoon-times-2005boonsinsukh.html
This is my comment in Harrytuttle’s blog:
--I think your review on AFTERNOON TIMES is the first English one in the world. Moreover, you have noticed many things I didn’t notice or think about. I didn’t notice that the opening scene can tell so much about what the rest of the film will be like. You are very observant.
--Tossapol also made a short film about a restaurant. It’s called SHE IS READING NEWSPEAPER (2005). The film has three characters. The first one is a girl who is reading a newspaper in a restaurant. She seems to be happy reading by herself. A boy is sitting at the same restaurant, looking at the girl reading a newspaper. He also seems to be very happy just by observing this girl. The third character is a waitress. She seems to be very happy observing the girl and the boy. Then she thinks about a clear blue sky.
I also love SHE IS READING NEWSPAPER very much. One of the reasons is that each of these three characters is “alone”, or seems to make no direct contact with other persons, but each of them is “happy” in his/her own way, and that sets this movie apart from many Asian films which are full of many lonely miserable characters.
--I also like face of the heroine of AFTERNOON TIMES when she is cleaning the window very much. That face seems to be very sad, and it broke my heart when I saw it.
--I think there are many films which are about people just graduating from university, but AFTERNOON TIMES is still very different from many of them. Many films in this sub-group are about problems in adapting to the workplace, problems with selfish bosses, and problems in applying for work. But none of the films I saw can deal with loneliness as intensely as AFTERNOON TIMES.
--As for the ice-breaking scene in which she asks him to take a photo, I admit that I didn’t remember this scene or didn’t think much about this scene when I saw it. But after reading what you wrote, I just realized that I sometimes did something like this myself. Hahaha. When my friends and I are on the beach and meet some interesting strangers, we sometimes ask them to take a photo of us. It’s great that you noticed this scene which I had overlooked.
--I also like the tourist-imitating scene very much. It’s funny, but in a way, it can be very sad. As for me, it reminds me of someone who is so lonely that she has to create an imaginary friend to talk to or to play with. The character here finds a way to amuse herself in her free time, but after that she will find too much free time, and might begin to realize that her ideal customer will never come. Her ideal customer will only exist in her imagination.
-I particularly like this sentence of yours very much
“We realize that life is like a movie production, good times are like afternoon times, they last only a while and then we have to move on and get over them. Memories fit in a box.”
I haven’t thought of this before, but I truly agree with you. I think this kind of theme might be found in many Thai short films in late 1990’s, when many Thai film students were crazy for Wong Kar-wai. But most of the films deal with loneliness, brief happiness, or cherished moments which end too soon, don’t affect me as strongly as AFTERNOON TIMES. I think most of the Thai films which deal with more or less the same issue try to “tell” this theme too straightforwardly, but AFTERNOON TIMES doesn’t “tell” this theme. It “shows” this theme. It lets the sad and lonely feelings gradually creep in. As for my personal feelings, every time Bo pulls out a piece of paper from the wall makes me feel very hurt. It makes me feel as if I saw her cutting herself by a knife—pulling out one piece of paper here is like cutting your skin one time. Some moviemakers might choose to convey this kind of sadness by having the heroine cry incessantly or do something more expressively. Fortunately, Tossapol didn’t choose that way.
--Your comment on the last scene of AFTERNOON TIMES somehow reminds me of a photo I like very much. This photo is called THEY RETURN TOYOU IN SONG (2002) by Darren Sylvester. This photo depicts a moment of remembering a broken relationship, triggered by a pop song on the car radio.
--In conclusion, I think you described AFTERNOON TIMES very very well and make me realize that there are many things in this film which can be found in my everyday life, or very close to my everyday life, or similar to my past experience. I can’t write or talk about this film as good as you do even though I write in Thai. This film is one of the most difficult films to write about, because it has very little story, very little action, no symbols to decipher. It’s just full of feelings. And atmospheric films which deal with feelings like this are very hard to be described by words. But I think you truly succeed in writing about this film and can convey the very essence of this film.
As for me, many months ago one of my friends who hadn’t seen this film asked me to describe this film. So I tried to tell her the plot of this film, but the more I tried to tell, the more I felt I couldn’t convey how great this film is. So I told my friend that it was beyond my ability to describe the beauty of this film. Now I know someone who can do it.
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These are some photos by Darren Sylvester
http://www.johnstongallery.com.au/exhibition13.html
THEY RETURN TO YOU IN SONG (2002)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1207/1396737633_3e2710d7c0_o.jpg
JUST DEATH IS TRUE (2006)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1095/1396737615_c16cbd6665_o.jpg
NO FUN NO MORE (2006)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1215/1396737629_60be84eafc_o.jpg
DON’T CALL IT LOVE IF THEY DON’T LOVE YOU (2006)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1018/1396737611_986c94133a_o.jpg
I WANT TO CARVE A FUTURE, DEVOUR SOMETHING, BECOME SOMETHING (2006)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1167/1396737605_2758811659_o.jpg
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