TIFF 09: SAWASDEE BANGKOK Review
When the screening of Thai omnibus film Sawasdee Bangkok ended and director Kongdej Jaturanrasmee took to the stage the affable man happily acknowledged that if the city of Bangkok had been looking for a promotional video when commissioning film makers for the Sawasdee Bangkok project then they may have hired the wrong people. Truthful these films may be, and heartfelt and touching but glamorous and enticing they certainly are not with all four of them focused on the harder side of life.
Though the complete Sawasdee Bangkok project features nine shorts by nine directors, only four were chosen to participate at the Toronto Film Festival screening, those four being new shorts by Wisit Sasanatieng, Aditya Assarat, Kongdej Jaturanrasmee and Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. All four are relatively big names on the international film circuit, all four given very close to free rein to tell whatever story they wanted to tell with the sole condition that it had to somehow be about their view of Bangkok. And while the limited production budget for these projects - which were commissioned and largely funded by Thai public television - means much of the directors' trademark visual flair is lacking the stories are quite strong - albeit it more than a little bleak in three of the four entries - right across the board.
Sasanatieng starts the set with Sightseeing, the ironically titled tale of a young blind woman living under a bridge and scraping together a meager living by selling lottery tickets on the street. Following an attempted rape the woman meets a strange young man who claims to be an angel and who offers to guide her on a tour of the city. Next comes Assarat with Bangkok Blues, the story of two mixed nationality friends - one of whom is played by Thai mega-star Ananda Everingham - struggling to cope with one of the pair's relationship problems. Next is Jaturanrasmee with Pi Makham, the supernaturally tinged tale of a young man who hires a prostitute to walk with him through the capital region through the night. And, finally, Ratanaruang turns in Silence, the story of a young woman helped by a homeless man after her car breaks down following a drunken night out with a friend.
Though the series of films was commissioned - in theory, at least - to help promote the city of Bangkok all of the directors show a surprising willingness to confront significant social issues with their stories. Extreme poverty, homelessness, violence in the streets, prostitution, political turbulence and more all make their presence felt - hardly the things that the government body behind the films could possibly want pushed out in public. But not everything is dark and gloomy. Even Sightseeing and Pi Makham, easily the two darkest pieces of the lot, have an odd sense of magic to the way they present their subject city with Ratanaruang shows the playful side he's kept mostly hidden in recent years with his entry.
The best of the lot is also the most casual, Assarat's Bangkok Blues ringing true with the honest reality of a friendship between its two leads - who really are friends - and a willingness to play with a recognizable situation (girl trouble) while also incorporating true life events into the plot - Everingham performing the entire piece in a neck brace following a serious motorcycle accident.
Budget constraints will likely limit the appeal of this project to just the serious fans of these directors, the made-for-tv origins resulting in strict limits on what can be accomplished visually. But that isn't to say that they aren't worthwhile, the set as a whole playing as a remarkably cohesive example of storytelling from some of the best Thailand has to offer.
Though the complete Sawasdee Bangkok project features nine shorts by nine directors, only four were chosen to participate at the Toronto Film Festival screening, those four being new shorts by Wisit Sasanatieng, Aditya Assarat, Kongdej Jaturanrasmee and Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. All four are relatively big names on the international film circuit, all four given very close to free rein to tell whatever story they wanted to tell with the sole condition that it had to somehow be about their view of Bangkok. And while the limited production budget for these projects - which were commissioned and largely funded by Thai public television - means much of the directors' trademark visual flair is lacking the stories are quite strong - albeit it more than a little bleak in three of the four entries - right across the board.
Sasanatieng starts the set with Sightseeing, the ironically titled tale of a young blind woman living under a bridge and scraping together a meager living by selling lottery tickets on the street. Following an attempted rape the woman meets a strange young man who claims to be an angel and who offers to guide her on a tour of the city. Next comes Assarat with Bangkok Blues, the story of two mixed nationality friends - one of whom is played by Thai mega-star Ananda Everingham - struggling to cope with one of the pair's relationship problems. Next is Jaturanrasmee with Pi Makham, the supernaturally tinged tale of a young man who hires a prostitute to walk with him through the capital region through the night. And, finally, Ratanaruang turns in Silence, the story of a young woman helped by a homeless man after her car breaks down following a drunken night out with a friend.
Though the series of films was commissioned - in theory, at least - to help promote the city of Bangkok all of the directors show a surprising willingness to confront significant social issues with their stories. Extreme poverty, homelessness, violence in the streets, prostitution, political turbulence and more all make their presence felt - hardly the things that the government body behind the films could possibly want pushed out in public. But not everything is dark and gloomy. Even Sightseeing and Pi Makham, easily the two darkest pieces of the lot, have an odd sense of magic to the way they present their subject city with Ratanaruang shows the playful side he's kept mostly hidden in recent years with his entry.
The best of the lot is also the most casual, Assarat's Bangkok Blues ringing true with the honest reality of a friendship between its two leads - who really are friends - and a willingness to play with a recognizable situation (girl trouble) while also incorporating true life events into the plot - Everingham performing the entire piece in a neck brace following a serious motorcycle accident.
Budget constraints will likely limit the appeal of this project to just the serious fans of these directors, the made-for-tv origins resulting in strict limits on what can be accomplished visually. But that isn't to say that they aren't worthwhile, the set as a whole playing as a remarkably cohesive example of storytelling from some of the best Thailand has to offer.
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