Sunday, November 13, 2011

Thai films seen on Sunday, July 31, 2011

I can't remember any details of any films now. I apologize if I remember anything wrongly.

1.DISTANCE (2010, Chonlasit Upanigkit, 55 min, A+++++++++++++++)
สิ่ง-ไหน (ชลสิทธิ์ อุปนิกขิต)

I'm very impressed with the naturalistic tone of the film. I even prefer it to NIGHT BLIND (2010, Chonlasit Upanigkit + Rasika Prasongtham, 40 min). I think NIGHT BLIND reminds me a little bit of some Malaysian arthouse films because NIGHT BLIND has both naturalistic moments and enigmatic moments. But the enigmatic moments are not to be found in DISTANCE.

I also like it very much that the hero of this film is very passive. If I remember it correctly, I think he may like his lesbian friend, but he does not try to act macho at all. He behaves like a really good friend, watching her from afar and helping her when necessary. I also like it very much that the film likes to shoot the hero from behind.

Many scenes in this film seem very real for me. The film is great at capturing some aspects of university students' lives, especially the tumultuous love relationship, the one-sided love, and the time spent with friends. Though these aspects can be found in many Thai short films, I think DISTANCE presents these aspects of students' lives much more realistically and convincingly than others.

Extremely human.


2.HEART (2011, Suppasit Sretprasert, 21:24 min, A++++++++++)
สิ่งเล็กๆที่เรียกว่าหัวใจ (ศุภสิทธิ์ เสร็จประเสริฐ)

The film is unique and very memorable for me. It fuses a fiction story and some clips of famous actors together. I don't know how this film originated, but my friends and I guess the filmmaker might fist have the clips of these famous actors, then he tried to weave these clips into a fiction film by asking ordinary persons who appeared in these clips to star in his film, and then wrote a story which could connect these people, these stars, and these clips together. It's a very interesting idea, and it yields a film which features famous actors but feels very homely at the same time.

I also like the attitude of this film very much. This film is about an elder sister who does not like the fact that her younger sister is very crazy for Mario Maurer. But instead of trying to preach to the audience that you should not be too obsessed with a handsome actor, the film instead seems to say to us that liking a star very much is not wrong at all, because it doesn't harm anyone. The elder sister ends up giving her younger sister a DVD of Mario Maurer.

I like this attitude very much. It doesn't look down on young people, and it corresponds to my belief that people should do whatever they want to do as long as it doesn't harm anyone.

The film features a long scene of Mario Maurer giving a talk about his acting practice to university students, and I think Mario in that scene is much more adorable than in most of his other films.

Suppasit Sretprasert also makes another homely film called LOVE (ครั้งหนึ่ง...เราเคยรักกัน, A++++++++++), which features unconvincing acting, dialogue, and story, but in his films, the word "unconvincing" means "charming". He also makes TIME (2010, 6 min, A+++++) and DREAM (2010, 13 min), which pose some interesting questions about ethics. In conclusion, I like his films very much. His films are unique.


3.FLUORESCENT (2011, Chaiwat Wiansantia, 13 min, documentary, A++++++++++)
สารเรืองแสง (ชัยวัช เวียนสันเทียะ)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycEcoH63aWs

This is a very poignant documentary about a talented artist who comes to terms with the fact that he may not become rich, famous and successful, and the fact that though we are talented, our life may not give us many chances to use our full talent. This is the sad truth about human life in general, or about us ordinary people. The artist seems to accept this sad fact, continuing living a simple life, and making his art works in his spare time.

4.WHAT!!! (2011, Prempapan Plittapolkarnpim, 14 min, A++++++++++)
สิ่งประหลาดในสวนหลังบ้าน (เปรมปพันธ ผลิตผลการพิมพ์)
This film is very haunting. I'm not sure what it's about. I guess it is about a man who locks up a kid in his house until the kid becomes psychotic. The kid ends up killing the man and escaping from the house. But the film does not tell us this story straightforwardly. It shows us some striking, haunting images and lets us connect the story by ourselves.

This film shows that Prempapat has advanced a lot. I hope he continues making haunting films like this.


5.A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT MY FAMILY (2011, Wachara Kanha, 97 min, documentary, A+++++)
สารคดีครอบครัวของฉัน (บันทึกเรื่องราวส่วนหนึ่งในครอบครัวของฉัน) (วชร กัณหา)

6.ESSAY CINEMA OF THE COUNTRY-SIDE (2011, Tani Thitiprawat, documentary, 50 min, A+++++)
สารคดีครอบครัวแห่งความสุขของเค่อร์ ภาค 2 (ธนิ ฐิติประวัติ)

7.WI-TE-HUI-TOM (2010, Atipat Kamonpet, 58 min, documentary, A+
สารคดี วิถีห้วยต้ม (อธิปัตย์ กมลเพ็ชร)

I like the ethnic language in this film very much. I think some ethnic languages are rapidly dying, so it is good to preserve these ethnic languages by recording them in films.

8.GOLDEN HEART AGENT (2011, Palakorn Kleungfak, 40 min, A+)
สุดเดชสายลับหัวใจทองคำ (พลากร กลึงฟัก)

9.THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE (2010, Pipat Adeedto, 18min, A+)
สำเริง (พิพัฒน์ อดีตโต)

10.TOILET 3 (2010, Koranan Chuenpichai, 27:11 min, A)
สุขขา 3 (กรนันท์ ชื่นพิชัย)

11.VISIBLE (2010, Phawin Chokethaweesak, animation, 5:24 min, A)
สิ่งที่มองเห็น (ภวิล โชคทวีศักดิ์)

12.COLOURMIND (2010, Zaikwan Khaengkhan, animation, 2:20 min, A-)
สีสันแห่งจินตนาการ (สายขวัญ แข่งขัน)

13.WATER COLOUR (2010, Teerachot Jivorasetkul, 6:54 min, A-)
สีน้ำ (ธีรโชติ จิวรเศรษฐ์กุล)

14.PRECIOUS THING (2011, Thanvimon Onpaphil, 7:57 min, A-)
สิ่งมีค่า (ธารวิมล อ่อนพาปลิว)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTILIGNuQI4

15.TRUE COLOUR (2011, Somphob Sanggerd, 8 min, B+)
สี (สมภพ แสงเกิด)

16.HAPPY LITTLE TIME (2010, Ittisak Euahsunthornwattana, 12:36 min, B)
สุข เล็ก น้อย (อิทธิศักดิ์ เอื้อสุนทรวัฒนา)



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