Bangkok Love Story (2007)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Poj Arnon

Writer:

Poj Arnon (writer)

Release Date:

15 September 2007 (Thailand)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Love is Dangerous

Plot Keywords:

Conscience | Mother Son Relationship | City Name In Title | Gay Sex | Gay Brother

Awards:

4 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Rattanaballang Tohssawat	...	Mehk - Cloud
Chaiwat Thongsaeng	...	Itt
Wiradit Srimalai	...	Mawk - Fog
Chutcha Rujinanon	...	Saai - Sand
Suchao Pongwilai
Chonprakhan Janthareuang
Uthumporn Silaphan
Rachanu Boonchuduang

Also Known As:

Pheuan... Guu rak meung waa (Thailand: Thai title)
Puen (Thailand: Thai title)

Runtime:

USA:90 min

Country:

Thailand

Language:

Thai

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

Singapore:R21 (cut) | Taiwan:R-12 | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Bangkok, Thailand

Either you HATE it, or you LOVE it...my choice is finally the second one.

After my first viewing of 'Bangkok Love Story', I was so disappointed by the melodramatic overload at the end of the film, that my first reaction was to write a very hateful comment about it, and I even wanted to smash my DVD against the wall, literally! However, something prevented me from doing so, and I think I figured out what it is. I was actually extremely moved by the story, and I think that I somehow just couldn't stomach its sad outcome, but after re-thinking about it, I finally realized that what I loved in it actually exceeded by far all the rest. Apart from the beautiful cinematography and the first rate acting, that the other reviewers here have already examined, I think that it is above all the authenticity of the love between the two characters and its unquestionable nature that I found absolutely beautifully rendered. This is a love story between two handsome and masculine men from a completely different social background,who, by a series of very unusual circumstances, succumb to a mutual passion, even if the time and place for this passion are inappropriate. What I loved in the director's approach is that, contrarily to a typical Western approach, like for instance in 'Brokeback Mountain', where the characters are devastated by the realization of the fact that they love a person of the same sex,and struggle with a typically Western guilt, an approach that I find nauseating,at NO MOMENT in 'Bangkok Love Story' do the characters waste time by asking themselves the question 'Am I gay?' or try to deny their feelings. What makes this love story tragic is above all their FATE, which is above all determined by the circumstances of their first meeting,and this fate is also determined to a certain extent by their social background. The tragedy here comes from DESTINY, and NOT from the sexuality of the characters, If 'Bangkok Love Story' had been a straight love story it would also had made perfect sense.(I do not want to spoil this review, but those who have seen the film can easily figure it out by examining the plot, nothing would have been out of place if the story had involved a man and a woman). Another reviewer talked about, I think, something like 'clan-destined' lovers, and I think, he's actually got the point and the heart of the story very well. So I finally decided to forgive the over-melodramatic turn the director gave to the story, and to focus on the beauty that lies within instead, and my rating of the film jumped from an initial 1 to a final 10. But, after all, isn't love a feeling of extreme subjectivity?