Friday, October 03, 2008

POLL 34: ASIAN GAYS

My poll 34 is inspired by many Thai short films I saw in the Marathon Thai Short Film Festival in July and August. There are many Thai short films concerning gay characters. The word “gay” which I use here include homosexuals, bisexuals, transvestites, transsexuals, or something like that. I don’t know if there is any easy word which can include all of these people, so I just use the word “gay” here and define its meaning by myself.


THESE FILMS HAVE ASIAN MALE CHARACTERS WHO ARE NOT HETEROSEXUAL. WHICH ONES DO YOU LIKE?


1.THE BANDAGE CLUB (2007, Yukihiko Tsutsumi, Japan)
The hero of this film has a handsome gay friend.

2.BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY (1983, Genji Nakamura, Japan)

3.BE LIKE OTHERS (2008, Tanaz Eshaghian, Iran)

4.BUDDY (คู่ขา) (2008, Theppanom Piriyaworakul, Thailand) 26 min

5.CHIZURU 1,000 PAPER CRANES (2008, Nareerat Boontham, Thailand)

6.CROC (จระเข้) (2008, Saravuth Intaraprom, Thailand) 15 min

7.ETERNAL SUMMER (2006, Leste Chen, Taiwan)

8.JAY (2008, Francis Xavier Pasion, Philippines)

9.HASAN (2008, Attapon Pamakho, Thailand) 29 min

10.INFINITE (2008, Thiraporn Poo-ngam + Wattana Kajadsarapadpai, Thailand) 24 min
This is a documentary.

11.THE MASSEUR (2005, Brillante Mendoza, Philippines)

12.THE MIRROR (2007, Thnapon Chungcharoen, Thailand) 4 min
I like the twist in this film very much.

13.A MOTH AND A BUTTERFLY (2003, Gilbert Kwong, Hong Kong)

14.MY BROTHER NIKHIL (2005, Onir, India)

15.NO REGRET (2006, Hee-il Leesong, South Korea)
Adam Hartzell wrote about this film here:
http://hellonfriscobay.blogspot.com/2008/08/adam-hartzell-on-no-regret.html

16.ONE CHOICE ONE CHANCE (เด็กชายด้ายแดง) (2008, Paween Bupphanhakun, Thailand) 16 min
The hero of this film has a gay friend.

17.RICE RHAPSODY (2004, Kenneth Bi, Singapore)

18.SUMMER TRIP (เพื่อน-รัก-ความทรงจำ) (2008, Khajornsuk Junkum, Thailand) 30 min

19.TWO STORIES (ธรรมะสองเรื่องควบ) (2008, Natchanon Jitweerapat + Isara Kunlum, Thailand) 20 min
This is one of my most favorite cult films of the year.

20.WHERE’S MY DOLL? (2008, Tanwarin Sukkhapisit, Thailand) 5 min

I think the heroine of this film is actually a transvestite. That’s why she refuses to speak to the hero and let the hero believe that she is mute. She fears that if she speaks with a male voice, the hero will know the truth.


You can cast multiple votes.

7 comments:

celinejulie said...

My own vote is for BE LIKE OTHERS, HASAN, ONE CHOICE ONE CHANCE, TWO STORIES, and SUMMER TRIP.

Tou and David said...

Interesting.

Anonymous said...

Haha. This poll is fun. : )

Anonymous said...

I thought there was "the Love of Siam" LOL

I choose Eternal Summer.
but How can I find " The Masseur"?

Anonymous said...

THE MASSEUR available at SILOM krub

btw i vote for TWO STORIES i want to see it again so much

Anonymous said...

Not having seen any of these films, I'll have to submit a write-in for Beautiful Boxer.

celinejulie said...

--The reason why LOVE OF SIAM is not in my poll is because I want this poll to focus on the new Thai short films that I just saw in July-Aug-Sep, so I decided to exclude other Thai films. I also don’t want this poll to be only about Thai films, so I include ten foreign films in the poll.


--Hi, Peter. I have to confess that I don’t like Ekachai Uekrongtham’s films that much, and I don’t know exactly why. It seems like he has a different wavelengths from me. I like the gay story in PLEASURE FACTORY (2007, A-), but I saw only the censored version of this film. I think THE COFFIN (2008, B+) and BEAUTIFUL BOXER (2003, B) are boring, though I think he made BEAUTIFUL BOXER with the right attitude or with good intention.