purple.light

Sunday, March 21, 2004

My Girl 

This is an obviously uninspired title but hey, it's the contents that matter, right?

Just caught the really sweet Thai movie, My Girl, also known as Fan Chan in its native language. It's about the memories of Jeab, a young man currently living in Bangkok, and his childhood sweetheart, Noi Nah.

Without going too much into details (since some of you have not watched it yet), one reason why I enjoyed the film so much is because of the way the directors reined in the cliches. With nostalgic films like this, it can be easy for the directors to pile on the emotional tricks to elicit reactions from the audience. Here, they managed to keep the show light and poignant without being overly dramatic.

Plus, I felt that the show captured the essence of that era beautifully. The props, the setting, the lighting all contributed to the laidback and easygoing feel of the past.

It also helps that the show's cast was wonderful. The two protagonists, Focus Jeerakul (as the girlish Noi Nah) and Chalee Thirat (as the scrawny Jeab) had such rapport and chemistry with one another, expressing the nuances of childish afffections with such sensitivity. The bully Jack, played by a towering Chelimpan Thikhampontheerawong, was such a hoot.

All in all, I would give this feel good movie 4.5 stars out of 5.

yAnn at 3/21/2004 05:15:00 PM