I can all but gaurantee that these two recommendations are something noone else you interact with IRL or online will suggest. I speak Thai fluently but I don't really interact with many Thai people in my day to day life (really at all).
Last week, I decided to wander into the Thai language part of Netflix in the US to see what Thai cinema has up to. 15 or 20 years ago, you'd have some Muay Thai action movies starring Tony Jaa (and maybe some elephants) which had production values approaching what you would get out of Hong Kong; everything else was pretty much crap.
You imght have remembered Ong Bak
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This week, I was pleasantly surprised with what I've found on Netflix. Production values for what I saw were now on part with the quality of cinema and shows you get out of Korea and the US; at times, I'd say it's even better than some of the middling tier shows I've seen recently out of the US/EU.
Fast and Feel Love
First up, ignore the dumbass title card (they even copied the font).
- This is a story of a guy approaching 30 who is vying to be the world's best cup stacker... while also trying to learn to be an adult as his relationship of the last decade falls apart.
- I always thought this "sport" fell into category of shit suburban (white) kids like but it's pretty funny if you ask me.
- If you ignore some of the unbelievableness (while it is certainly possible for these two 20-30yr olds to afford their lifestyle -- it feels possible, it still feels a little unprobably (kind of like how the cast of Friends could live where/how they did). Its possible because a) real estate in Bangkok isn't that expensive for being a major city esp if you are in the burbs and b) and the protagonist is this beautiful half Thai woman who probably has family money from overseas.
- Bottom line: it's got all the bits of a comedy romance and sports movie including a comically foul mouthed children.
- My biggest complaint is that the movie itself feels a bit over made, like the director was being super eager to showcase his skills, and probably could have been improved with a shorter run-time/tighter editing. It's still enjoyable entertainment, but I'm not going to sell you on the idea that it's
cinema.
Tomorrow and I
The second show is a four episode anthology that is very much like Black mirror but I'm told explores different topics (I personally haven't finished BM). Each episode has its own director and aesthetic but the overarching theme is how Thai culture will change because of some emerging technology.
- I particularly found the look of episode 2 which had a 60s retro-futuristic feel and the actual themes explored in episode 3 (how technology will fuck with Buddhism) to be the most rewarding.
- Episode 4 was also cool because it very much seems to capture a future view of how poor people could live in a flooded Bangkok that feels very much like the glimpses I saw when I've visited in the past; I've spent enough time visiting family as an adult and have wandered into areas very much like where this family lives and interacted with folks who aren't just of the class that will sends their children overseas for college.
- Bottom Line: If you are a fan of dystopian science fiction and black mirror, I think you'll like this series.
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If any of you guys do watch either of these recommendations, I'm curious to hear what you guys think. Does the humor come through in the translation and delivery?
I watch these shows with Thai audio and subtitles and only have to glance at the subtitles every few minutes when a word pops up that I don't immediately recognize (I grew up here and never lived in Thailand; I only visited). A little of the nuances are lost in the translation (Thai has different vocabulary between proper speaking and more informal "ghetto speak." You don't pick up the differences in translation but I was surprised to hear both men and women using the ghetto speak amongst their close friends more often than I expected. My dad was a bit of a hoodroot so it doesn't surprise me that he speaks like that a lot even to people that aren't his friends but being a foreign kid who just happened to learn Thai, my family really only taught me to use the formal speak all the time. The net result is even though my pronunciation is correct, my word order is sometimes jumbled and sometimes sound like a newscaster.
The Other topic I plan to explore more with my cousins who were born/live in Thailand is something I haven't quite figured out about acting in Thailand. Some characters act very naturally while others feel like they are hamming it up almost like what you would see in America if you watch a live stage play, a Robin Williams comedy, or maybe even Awkwafina. Over dramatic might be a way to describe it. I cannot tell if this is just how acting is done in Thailand (some characters take on this kind of persona) but I doubt any of these people would act like this in real life even if they were the character they are portraying.
Q: Do you notice this in either of the shows?
Anyway, I do believe both are worth watching. Available on Netflix in the US (no VPN shenanigans necessary) and subtitled.
