5 movies that offer eye-opening views of Bangkok
As part of CNNGo’s week-long Uncovering Bangkok special, we asked local film fan and popular blogger Wise Kwai to give us a list of his favorite movies that give eye-opening views of the city. Here's his selection:
1. "Sawasdee Bangkok" (สวัสดีบางกอก), 2009
What it's about:
Everything, especially the love-hate relationship Bangkokians have with
their city. It's nine short films by nine top directors: the late
Bandit Rittakol, Ruethaiwan Wongsirasawasdi, Pen-ek Ratanaruang, Wisit
Sasanatieng, Kongdej Jaturanrasamee, Prachya Pinkaew, Aditya Assarat,
Chookiat Sakveerakul and Santi Taepanich. They cover just about every
aspect of city living. It was made for television, so you might
catch it sometime on Thai PBS.
What to watch for:
There are many highlights. The green-trussed Memorial Bridge (Phra
Phutta Yodfa Bridge) turns up a lot. But the main one is the people,
especially the characters in Santi's segment, I Love BKK, among them
former massage parlor king and former gubernatorial candidate Chuwit
Kamolvisit. Bangkok is a city that caters to all tastes, Chuwit says.
And "Sawasdee Bangkok" is a short-film compilation made for that city.
2. "Citizen Dog" (Mah Nakhon, หมานคร), 2004
What it's about:
A country boy (indie rocker Mahasamut Boonyaruk) takes a job in a
sardine cannery. He loses a finger and gets it back. He then becomes a
security guard, falls in love with a maid (model 'Jeed' Saengthong
Gate-Uthong) and switches to driving a taxi so he can chauffeur the
maid to work. But the maid is infatuated with a mysterious book and
foreigner (Chuck Stephens) she thinks is an environmental activist. It's a
wry series of fantastically satiric sketches, colorfully realized by
director Wisit Sasanatieng.
What to watch for: A zombie
motorcycle-taxi driver, a couple who consumate their relationship on a
crowded 'ordinary' bus and a teddy bear that drinks, smokes and swears.
Also, a mountain of plastic water bottles that dwarfs the city skyline.
3. "The Bodyguard" (บอดี้การ์ดหน้าเหลี่ยม), 2004
What it's about:
The tough, no-nonsense bodyguard of Thailand's richest man fails to
protect his client and finds himself hunted by gunmen. As hard-boiled as
that sounds, this is an action-comedy and was the stunning directorial
debut by top comedian Mum Jokmok. Action choreography by Panna
Rittikrai (mentor to martial-arts star Tony Jaa) made sure the stunts
were as fierce as the slapstick was hilarious.
What to watch for:
Mum runs naked, with just a rice bowl covering his private parts,
through traffic at busy Victory Monument. It caused quite a stir, and
rattled Mum so much he swore he'd never embarrass himself in public
like that again.
4. "The Love of Siam" (Rak Haeng Siam, รักแห่งสยาม,), 2007
What it's about: A groundbreaking, multi-layered, critically acclaimed family drama that has a puppy-love romance between teenage boys at its core. The movie introduced heartthrob Mario Maurer as a Catholic schoolboy who's the love interest of his childhood friend (Witwisit Hiranyawongkul), the singer-songwriter in a boyband. Chookiat Sakveerakul directs.
What to watch for: Siam Square at Christmas time, the boyband performance in Discovery Plaza and Siam Square's art-deco Scala Theatre.
5. "Garuda" (Paksa Wayu, ปักษาวายุ), 2004
What it's about:
The Thai film industry's first big CGI movie made the mythical
half-humanoid, half-eagle god of Hindu and Buddhist myth into a
city-destroying monster. Monthon Arayangkoon directs with Sara Legge as
a fiesty archaeologist who teams up with top-secret military
special-ops unit to bring the beast down.
What to watch for:
The garuda, unleashed from his underground lair by contruction workers
on Bangkok's MRT subway, breaks through the pavement in front of MBK
Centre, unfurling a 40-foot wingspan and a powerful urge to kill some
people.
Honorable mention: "Happy Berry", 2004
What it's about: Indie filmmaker Thunska Pansittivorakul embeds himself in the Siam Square clothing boutique Happy Berry and follows the lives and loves of its four business partners. The model boyfriend of one of the women, a guy named Nicky 99 Degrees, does a nude photo spread and donates the proceeds to charity. At another point, three of the partners embark on a brief career in pop music before returning to work.
What to watch for: Black light karaoke! The clothing boutique is still there, in the former Centerpoint area of Siam Square.
