tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27752565.post4274559079819163140..comments2023-10-17T16:48:53.346+07:00Comments on The Space of Dechito: Bangkok Love Story เพื่อนกูรักมึงว่ะdechitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01005364197759415884noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27752565.post-41128922335566789662008-04-06T12:22:00.000+07:002008-04-06T12:22:00.000+07:00Thanks for your detailed comments, Kai. I like you...Thanks for your detailed comments, Kai. I like your bit on rasa theory. Perhaps I'm being too realistic in approaching this film. I think I should sit back and watch it again, paying less attention to details but more to emotion. I think this must be the intention of the director. :)dechitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01005364197759415884noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27752565.post-44198294099509498552008-03-24T15:03:00.000+07:002008-03-24T15:03:00.000+07:00[warning: spoiler info, don't read if you haven't...[warning: spoiler info, don't read if you haven't watched]<BR/><BR/>I don't know if the film would've been perfect without the 'flaws' you mention, but it could've been improved. I think the 'flaws' sometimes lay elsewhere, though. Looking at your points:<BR/><BR/>1) bad script. Well, I would've liked more dialogue to fill out the development of the two leads' emotions for each other. We get a few revealing scenes early on (watching each other sleep, the medicine), and a few in flashback (feeding, etc.), but more would have been helpful. And not only in building up their relationship, but also in the lead-up to Mek's kicking Ith out of his room. Even though we previously had a flash of what his step-father did to Mok (and so, in retrospect, surmise that Ith has issues with male-male sex), that rejection just comes so suddenly and on the heels of such steaminess that it's still hard to fathom.<BR/><BR/>1.1 Regarding speech, I don't know, I'm not sure such sweet speech is logically inconsistent with an officer (though not the norm). Also, there's the sense that Ith felt indebted to Mek for saving his life, which led to this somewhat servile role. And of course, as we find out later, Ith seems to have already fallen for another guy (his police friend), whereas we don't know that for Mek. So Ith is in that way already more comfortable expressing his emotion for Mek than the reverse.<BR/><BR/>2) I agree Ith's acting was a little weak in places. Pleading would have been appropriate, and when he ran around and found that Mek had left, you'd expect him to just slouch in a corner, beside himself with despair, rather than just stand there. On the other hand, I thought both Mek's and Mok's acting was solid throughout, which had me tearing up on more than one occasion.<BR/><BR/>3) I also was initially turned off by the plot, but I think in retrospect the problem is more in the sudden twists and juxtapositions in it rather than its content, per se. For one, I didn't think Mek's policy was so unbelievable. It was revealed that his 'policy' was probably a delusion of his own making--an attempt to rationalize the necessity of his 'hits' since his boss probably didn't make a case against each of them (as he says: he never said they were bad guys), though maybe he hinted at their unsavoriness here and there.<BR/><BR/>3.2 Regarding the bathtub and loofah, it could've been an oversight. But, for all we know Ith might have bought it (being flush with cash) after Mek had trouble washing himself in the bathroom.<BR/><BR/>3.3 Yes, Ith is always about in his underwear, doing his domestic duties and caring for Mek. I just laughed and enjoyed the beauty of it all. Regarding his walking home in only that, I think all those flashing lights and special effects were supposed to convey how completely down and out he was--so much so that he could've cared less whether passers-by ogled at his underwear.<BR/><BR/>3.4 Dunno about the face. I'll need to go back and look. I'd thought it was a skin condition being a complication of her disease.<BR/><BR/>3.5 Re rain, it's the monsoon, no? It was also helpful in evoking what in rasa-theory, they'd call vipralambha-srngara (love in separation). And of course, it made for a steamy reunion.<BR/><BR/>4) Melodrama, yes. The trope of putting your hand up to another's on glass I thought was fine, and touching. And even the hand to the heart scene in the prison I was happy with. But the rapid fire succession of tragic events in the false-ending made me burst out laughing: alleyway reunion and rejection, AIDS-spreading revelation, a hanging, attempted murder of a husband and the mistaken murder of a pitiful mother--and all in the space of a few minutes on a stormy night with full violins wailing. Even if they'd just spread some of these events out, it might've been OK. As it was, it was so far over the top, even watching it again I can't help but fall over laughing again.<BR/><BR/>On the other hand, the plot makes a lot of sense in terms of individual motivations (the wife's, Mek's--who is determined to get his family out of Bangkok and can't let even Ith get in the way of that--the desperate little brother, etc.). The events just unfold too suddenly in spots, and with too little support from dialogue that would make it all more believable. Still, Mek's acting in the prison scene in the aftermath of such unintended humor still had me tearing up.<BR/><BR/>The over-the-top melodrama is a shame because the film has so much going for it, as you mention, the cinematography, a still fairly ground-breaking thai lgbt love story, some good acting, and a lot of beauty.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, thanks for the review, and for pointing out the film's positives. I've seen so many negative write-ups that I thought I'd finally throw in my 2 (or 20) cents' worth.<BR/><BR/>-KaiAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27752565.post-48007605413026210462008-02-26T09:31:00.000+07:002008-02-26T09:31:00.000+07:00"it'd be a lot better if you press the mute button..."it'd be a lot better if you press the mute button".<BR/><BR/>"The soundtrack was also good".<BR/><BR/>Hmm, if you press the mute button you won't hear the soundtrack...<BR/><BR/>And I'm sure people who haven't seen it yet are really grateful to know that Mek is murdered at the end.<BR/><BR/>Yours truly,<BR/><BR/>'The culprit'.Matthew Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04144885857395203898noreply@blogger.com