Love of Siam

The Love of Siam
The Thai theatrical poster.
Directed by	Chukiat Sakweerakul
Written by	Chukiat Sakweerakul
Produced by	Prachya Pinkaew Sukanya Vongsthapat
Starring	Witwisit Hirunwongkul Mario Maurer Chermarn Boonyasak Sinjai Plengpanich Songsit Rungnopakunsri
Cinematography	Chitti Urnorakankij
Distributed by	Sahamongkol Film International
Release dates	November 22, 2007
Running time	150 min.
Country	Thailand
Language	Thai
Budget	17 million baht

The Love of Siam (Template:Lang-th, or Rak Hang Siam) is a 2007 Thai romantic-drama film, written and directed by Chukiat Sakweerakul. A multi-layered family drama, a controversial element of the story is a gay romance between two teenage boys.

Plot

Mew and Tong were neighbors and close friends in childhood. But after Tong's sister, Tang, disappeared, Tong's family moved away. The boys are reunited during their senior year of high school at Siam Square. The musically talented Mew is the leader of a boy band called August. Tong has a pretty girlfriend, Donut. The meeting stirs up old feelings that Mew has harbored since boyhood, his love for Tong.

Mew's band, meanwhile, has a new manager, June. She looks just like Tong's long-lost sister, Tang. After meeting June, Tong and his mother, Sunee, devise to a plan to pay June to pretend she is Tang, in hopes that it will pull Tong's father out of his alcoholic depression. Tang borrows a story from the Thai film Ruk Jung, saying she has amnesia, which is why she has forgotten how to say her family's Catholic grace at the dinner table.

Mew is also the object of an unrequited crush of a neighbor girl, Ying. But Mew has strong feelings for Tong, which have inspired him to write new songs.

The boys share a prolonged kiss in Tong's backyard one night after a party in honor of the return of Tang. Tong also spends the night with Mew, which causes his mother to worry.

At Christmas time, as Tong and his mother are decorating a Christmas tree, and they have a heart-to-heart talk about making choices, and Tong asks the mother to let him make his own choices.

Tong then goes to Siam Square for a date with Donut. Mew's band is playing nearby, so Tong abandons Donut and goes to see Mew play. Tong gives Mew a gift, a missing nose from a wooden doll that Tong give him when they were children. But then Tong tells Mew he can't be his boyfriend.

Cast

Witwisit Hirunwongkul attends the Thailand premiere of The Warlords on December 9, 2007.

Mario Maurer attends the Thailand premiere of The Warlords on December 9, 2007.

• Witwisit Hirunwongkul as Mew
• Mario Maurer as Tong
• Chermarn Boonyasak as Tang/June
• Sinjai Plengpanich as Sunee, Tong's mother
• Songsit Rungnopakunsri as Tong's father
• Kanya Rattanapetch as Ying
• Aticha Pongsilpipat as Donut

Reception

Marketing controversy, audience response

From left to right - Mario Maurer,Kanya Rattanapetch, Witwisit Hiranyawongkul and Chukiat Sakweerakul

Marketed as a typical teen romance between boys and girls, the gay aspect of the love story was controversial.

Thai-language webboards were posted with messages of support, as well as accusations by moviegoers that they were misled into watching "a gay movie."

Director Chukiat Sakweerakul admitted the film was marketed on the film posters and in the film's previews as a straight romance because he wanted it to reach a wider audience.

"The movie is not all about gay characters, we are not focusing on gay issues, we are not saying, 'let's come out of the closet, so obviously, we don't want the movie to have a 'gay' label," he said in an interview.

But the director confirmed the mixed reaction of audiences. "I went incognito to a movie theater and observed the audience. I didn't expect such a strong reaction. Maybe I was just too optimistic that homophobia in Thai society had subsided."

Box-office performance

The Love of Siam was released in Thai cinemas on November 22, 2007, opening on 146 screens. It was the No. 1 film at the Thai box office that weekend, topping the previous No. 1 film, Beowulf. It slipped to No. 2 the following weekend, unseated by the comedy film, Ponglang Amazing Theater. In the third week of release, it had dropped to No. 5, with to-date box office takings of US$1,198,637.

Critical response

The critical response to The Love of Siam was generally positive.

Bangkok Post film critic Kong Rithdee called the film "groundbreaking", in terms of being the first Thai film "to discuss teenagers' sexuality with frankness". He praised the mature, realistic family drama aspects of the film, as well as the solid performances, particularly by Sinjai Plengpanich as the mother Sunee.

Another Bangkok Post commentator, Nattakorn Devakula, said the film contained important lessons for Thai society. "The point that the film attempts to teach viewers – and a largely conservative Thai society – is that love is an evolved form of emotional attachment that transcends sexual attraction of the physical form."

A reviewer for The Nation called the film "brilliantly conceived".

Gregoire Glachant of BK magazine commented that "The Love of Siam isn't a very well shot movie. Chukiat's camera only records his dull play with equally dull angles and light as it wanders from homes to schools, to recording studio, and to Siam Square without sense of purpose or directions."

Awards

The film won multiple national film awards, including the Thailand National Film Association Awards for Best Picture, Best Director (Chukiat Sakweerakul), and Best Supporting Actress (Chermarn Boonyasak). The film won nine out of twelve categories in Starpics Magazine's Starpics Awards, namely Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Mario Maurer), Best Actress (Sinjai Plengpanich), Best Supporting Actor (Songsit Rungnopakunsri), Best Screenplay (Chukiat Sakweerakul), Best Cinematography (Chitti Urnorakankij), Best Original Score (Kitti Kuremanee) and Popular Film. The film also won the Best Film and Best Actress (Sinjai Plengpanich) categories in the Kom Chad Luek Awards organized by Kom Chad Luek newspaper.

Production

Chukiat Sakweerakul at the Thai press preview of The Love of Siam on November 21, 2007.

The film was first shot on December 26, 2006, taking advantage of the Christmas lights and decorations of Siam Square and the surrounding area.

The Love of Siam is unusual among Thai films in many respects. First, at 150 minutes, the film is markedly longer than most other Thai films, and second it is a drama film, which is rare in the Thai industry, which mainly produces horror, comedy, action and (heterosexual) teen romance films.

Director Chukiat Sakweerakul said he felt the longer running time was needed to more fully develop all the characters and the story. He received full backing for this decision from producer Prachya Pinkaew and the production company, Sahamongkol Film International.

"They liked the first cut, which was even longer, so I didn't need to convince them that much. I feel that every minute of the movie is important, and I'm glad the audience will be able to see it in full," Chukiat said in an interview before the film's release.

A nearly four-hour "director's cut" was released in January, 2008 exclusively at the House RCA cinema. It is booked for two sold-out shows a day through the end of February, 2008 with the possibility of an extended run.

The film was a departure for Chukiat, who had previously directed the horror film, Pisaj and the psychological thriller, 13 Beloved.

The gay romance was also unusual, in that it involved two "straight acting" boys. In most Thai films with gay characters, gay men are coarsely depicted as transgenders or transvestites with exaggerated effeminacy.

The young actors portraying Mew and Tong both had difficulties with the kissing scene.

Witwisit Hirunwongkul, who portrays Mew, accepted the role because it was challenging and because he was interested in working with the director, who was a senior classmate at Montfort College in Chiang Mai.

Mario Maurer, of Chinese-German descent, portrayed Tong, and was "nervous". "I've never kissed a man and kissing is not something you do every day," he said in an interview. "My father said it was just a job and not to think about it too much."

Soundtrack

Untitled

A original soundtrack album was released on November 12, 2007, ahead of the film's release. The two-disc package features a CD with music tracks by Chukiat Sakweerakul, Witwisit Hirunwongkul, the August band, Passakorn Wiroonsup and Flure, and a VCD with four music videos. The album proved popular, and had sold out of many shops in the weeks after its release.

Tagline: "Just ask yourself who you think of when you are listening to love song."

Track listing

Disc 1 (CD)

1. "Gun lae gun" ("กันและกัน") – performed by Suweera Boonrod (Flure) – 4:34
2. "Ticket (Day Trip)" – performed by Chukiat Sakweerakul & August Band – 3:34
3. "Roo suek barng mhai" ("รู้สึกบ้างไหม") (Live) – performed by Witwisit Hirunwongkul – 4:16
4. "Pieng ter" ("เพียงเธอ") – performed by Witwisit Hirunwongkul – 4:12
5. "Gun lae gun" ("กันและกัน") (Acoustic version) – performed by Chukiat Sakweerakul – 6:20
6. "Kuen aun pen niran" ("คืนอันเป็นนิรันดร์") – performed by Passakorn Wiroonsup – 3:07
7. "Gun lae gun" ("กันและกัน") (Live) – performed by Witwisit Hirunwongkul – 6:02
8. "Roo suek barng mhai" ("รู้สึกบ้างไหม ") (Original Mix) – performed by Witwisit Hirunwongkul – 5:00
9. "Pieng ter" ("เพียงเธอ") (Demo) – performed by Chukiat Sakweerakul – 4:23
10. "Ticket (Bonus Track)" – Instrumental – 3:50

Disc 2 (VCD)

1. The Love of Siam trailer
2. "Gun lae gun" music video
3. Introducing the August band
4. "Gun lae gun" behind-the-scenes music video

External links

• Official site
• Rak haeng Siam at IMDb
• The Love of Siam at MovieSeer
• The Love of Siam at SiamZone Template:Th icon