From Siam With Love... [The Love of Siam]

(Originally posted on April 27, 2008 on Yahoo!360)

Today, frustration is slowly taking a toll on me as I’ve been trying to get more information about a not-so-new Thai movie that recently caught my attention. I’m so intrigued by the movie that I decided to take information about the movie first before getting to see it.

The movie I’m pertaining to is the 2007 Thai box office hit “The Love of Siam”. It is a multi-layered family drama about two boys that were childhood friends that were separated but eventually met again during their high school years. The leading cast members are budding musician and actor Witwisit Hirunwongkul a.k.a. Pich or Pchy, and print model and actor Mario Maurer. The boys in the film have their own share of personal struggles. Tong’s (Maurer) family was plunged into a depression after his sister Tang went missing in a jungle trip and never came back. This caused his father (Songsit Rungnopakunsri) to become an alcoholic. Meanwhile, the musically-gifted Mew (Hirunwongkul) became emotionally drastic since his grandmother who took care of him since he was a boy and shared his passion of music, died suddenly. He also lost his ability to easily compose songs and had difficulty doing so.

Although a family drama, a controversial element of the movie caused a stir in some circles. It is about the gay romance between the two boys. And that element is what also intrigued me most. To understand the matter, here is a summary of the movie.

Tong and Mew met by chance at Siam Square, a famous shopping center in central Bangkok that is a popular hang-out for teenagers. They rekindled their spirit of friendship and got close as the days come by. Stories were shared as well as memories gone by. By the time they met, many years had passed since they parted ways as boys. They are now in their high school years. Mew is the lead vocalist of a boy band called The August Band. Tong meanwhile has a girlfriend, Donut (Aticha Pongsilpipat), on whom he isn’t really interested. Mew is also the object of an unrequited crush by his next door neighbor, Ying (Kanya Rattanapetch).

The two boys grew closer each day and together they shared each other’s burdens. But Mew is slowly starting to develop a deep affection for Tong. Slowly, he regained his ability to compose songs of love. The lyrics seem to easily pass through his hand and the songs were written naturally.

Somewhere in the middle of the movie, Mew’s band got a new manager, June (Chermarn Boonyasak). June has a very close resemblance to Tong’s lost sister. Tong’s mother Sunee (Sinjai Plengpanit) conceptualized a plan that June would pretend to be Tang thinking that it would lure her husband away from alcoholism and start a new life. Tong’s family held a “come-back” party in their backyard for Tang’s return. On that night, Mew and his band performed a new song that is written by Mew, obviously for Tong. That closeness between Tong and Mew led Sunee to suspect that there is a relationship between the boys.

The boys were left alone in the yard after the party. It is there that the controversial kissing scene between them happened. Sunee grew even more worried when her son spent the night in Mew’s place and it drew her closer to her suspicions. Tong’s feelings for Mew also grew deeper. Sunee confronted Mew and told him to stay away from her son, which Mew agreed.

On Christmas Eve night, while Tong and her mom are decorating their Christmas tree, she talked to her son sincerely and asked him to make his own choices. She has been beleaguered by the facts that her husband became an alcoholic, her daughter went missing, and now her son is gay.

Tong and Donut went out on a date in Siam Square on Christmas Day. He heard Mew’s band playing in the distance and ran to see him perform. Tong eventually abandons Donut as he ran in the crowd to catch Mew at the backstage. He called Mew as he and his band were leaving. Tong told Mew that he can’t be with him as his boyfriend. Tong then gave Mew the missing nose of a wooden doll that Mew gave him when they were young. Tong told Mew that it was a Christmas present. A present of pain and rejection, that is.

Now that you’ve known the movie, I can now take you into an analysis of the movie and how my interest got stuck.

I accidentally stumbled on the movie while I was doing some research on Thai films and movie stars. Recently, I’ve been watching some Bangwood (Bangkok) movies and I found them even better than Hollywood releases. For a long time, I had a staple of American blockbuster films and they’re not bad either. But the thing about Bangwood is that the culture and settings are much closer to home. Thais behave like Filipinos, Thais look like Filipinos, and central Bangkok looks the same as Manila. I also read some critique reviews on Thai films to see how people think of the movies. And as I was searching for photos on Google, a picture of two teenage boys sitting on a bench caught my attention.

It isn’t obvious but I really like coming-of-age movies. Hoping that it is a teenage drama about friendship between two best buds, I didn’t expect the controversial element that really intrigued me. I typed the title on the search bar and read more about the movie. The title of the movie “The Love of Siam” is itself misleading. It sounds patriotic but the Siam in the title isn’t referring to Thailand’s former name, but Siam Square where the movie is set. I didn’t have any knowledge about Siam Square beforehand so I also searched about the place. I found out that it is a high-end, trendy shopping center which is popular with Bangkok’s teenagers. Siam Square houses Bangkok’s oldest and premiere shopping malls and movie theaters. Conveniently located in the heart of Bangkok, its accessibility made it also popular with foreign tourists. It reminded me of Metro Manila’s very own Ayala Center. And as the title suggests, it is in Siam Square where love blossomed for the boys.

For days, I’ve searched for videos of TLOS. I fell in love with the movie’s soundtrack and I already memorized some lyrics of the songs. At first I had a hard time singing-along the Thai lyrics but after listening to the songs repeatedly, I memorized the tunes at heart and eventually caught up with the lyrics. I watched segments of the movie and one by one, I was able to piece out the story and I appreciate the movie further as it continuously flowed in front of my eyes.

The movie is a bit longer than the standard length. TLOS runs for 2 hours and 15 minutes. However, the limited edition Director’s Cut DVD collection contains a bonus DVD with the deleted scenes. That sums up to a full 150 minutes. It may be long but I didn’t find the movie boring. Everything was so natural; the acting, the setting, and the dialogues.

Many people have labeled TLOS as a gay film, but according to the director himself he didn’t want the film to be labeled that way. I personally agree with him. It is not a gay film per se, and the Thai film industry (thankfully) didn't label it as such. The main focus of the movie is the personal struggles of the characters and how they roll with the punches of life. It is for most of the part, a family affair. It is a drama for the entire viewing public that just happened to have a complicated love angle between the boys as part of the story. The gay thing is just a subplot. There's simply no justification to label the film that way simply because of a controversial element. In fact, it is one of the most meaningful and worthwhile movies I've seen. Many teenage dramas nowadays are just the same boy-loves-girl-vice-versa crap. The movie's posters look like any other teenage movie posters but TLOS proved that there is more to the teeny-bopper images. Substance is what TLOS have and what other present-day teenage flicks lack.

Tong and Mew learn the importance and meaning of love in all its facets. From the love of parents to their children, to understanding the meaning of true friendship, the movie defined love as “an emotional attachment that transcends sexual attraction of the physical form.” In other words, love is the very same thing that we feel for everyone who is close to our hearts; our family, our friends, our partners in life, our children.

The other thing that I love in this movie is the true spirit of friendship. When Mew’s band knew that he is gay and is in love with Tong, who also drops by the recording studio to see Mew and his band’s rehearsals, they immediately stayed away from Mew. The band replaced him as the lead vocalist. Mew also grew colder with his former bandmates. Seeing how depressed and sad Mew became since he was forcibly sent out of the band, his best buddy Non, who is the band’s guitarist, talked to Mew and helped him deal with his confusions and let him in the band again. The scene where Mew rejoins the band was deleted in the commercial version of the film but was included in the Director’s Cut version. I found that scene very funny. A comic relief for the movie’s dramatic setting. When Non welcomed Mew in the recording studio, he jokingly said “After secretly releasing his own album, Gay Power Volume 4, he’s now back!” Mew pushed Non for that joke and he merrily sang again with the band.

The cast’s acting was excellent and natural. With the movie’s long running time, you can really feel the characters and know them very well. Pchy and Mario acted so sweetly, in contrast with their real life serious and straight-forward personalities. Sunee wasn’t too hysterical despite her family’s problems.

The TLOS soundtrack is one of the best I’ve heard. When I read the English translations of the lyrics, I was touched by the true meaning of the songs. But when I read about the story behind the songs, I appreciated the songs more. I particularly like both Pchy’s and August band’s rendition of Gan Lae Gan and Pchy’s original songs Piang Tur and Roo Sook Bplaang Mai. Kop Koon Gan Lae Gan is also a great song performed by August band and Pchy, which is like a continuation of Gan Lae Gan. While listening to those songs, I can really feel the genuineness of the songs as they were all composed from the heart. That is how I got hooked on the music of August band.

I definitely recommend this movie for everyone. It is a drama for the whole family to enjoy. And for those who love tear-jerkers, this is the movie for you!

The same with the movie, the songs imply a simple message: That no matter who the person is there is someone who’ll take care of us, love us, and stay with us ‘til the end.

(Written by JM 'Fuji' Reyes, Manila)