MOVIE REVIEW: The Love of Siam

Although released in Thailand in 2007, I have just come to watch this movie this week. I think it was one of the best movies I have seen lately. The cinematography was very good, although it was a little bit long for a drama, the sequences were never boring and actually infused a sense of excited anticipation as to what would happen next.

It was a movie of many themes. It talked about independence as shown by Tang's eventual disappearance from the life of her family, a struggle with alcohol abuse as shown by Korn's chronic drinking after Tang's disappearance, a steely, quite determination as shown by Sunsee's character as she handles work, Korn's lapse into drunkenness and the conflicting struggles of teenage life as shown by Tong's infatuation with Mew, and of course, Mew's feelings of connection and attachment, dare I say love, for Tong.

June represents that drive in young people to search for their place in the world, and this would sometimes involve leaving behind their families. In Asian societies,the family is central to the person's life - major decisions always involve the family, and June represents this modern Asian dilemma to leave the confines of the family and to find one's meaning in life - to be free and unencumbered to pursue one's potentials in the smorgasbord of modern Asian life.

The life of June is like the life of Tang in reverse and at the same time in synchrony. Tang was lost in the jungles of northern Thailand after traveling from Bangkok while June lost her family when both her parents died while she tried to make it in Bangkok. Korn saw June as his long lost daughter Tang and June's story of how she became "lost" from her family echoes Tang's adventurous spirit, free from the confines of the family and its sometimes constricting rules.

It was also about friendship as shown by Mew's August Band's coming together to support Mew about his real person. In the end, the band decided that if they were really the friend's of Mew, then they should be ready and willing to support Mew, and more than that, to accept Mew without judgment about who he really is.

Family is another theme of the movie and how important it is in one's life. The family served as a stabilizing force Tong's and Mew's life. One of the most beautiful scene of the movie is when Tong and Sunsee were decorating the Christmas Tree in their house and Tong was asking his mom whether he would put on a male or a female elf in one spot of the tree, after asking whether she would prefer the male or the female elf, Sunsee would say to put both on, then Tong says she might get angry if he places both. Eventually, Sunsee realizes that this is more than just a choice about a tree decoration, Tong was communicating something much deeper and more profound, and Sunsee got the message and told Tong to choose which he would most feel would make him happy - and Tong chooses the male elf. Sunsee accepts with a smile of approval and understanding. At this instant, Tong understood that no matter what, his mom would be there to support him.

Tong and Mew's friendship develops into something much deeper, and they knew this while they were still young. Somehow, Tong and Mew had this inner connection with each other since they got to speak with each other in that bathroom incident in which Mew was almost brawled bloody had it not been for Tong's intervention.

It was a love for each other that transcended words, they understood each other by mere look and presence. They actually felt comfortable, at ease and at peace with each others presence. Although Sunsee had communicated to Tong that she would support him regardless of his decision whom to love, Tong decided in the end to follow the conventions of society but not without affirming his love for Mew. Mew was of course hurt but nevertheless, he too understood that in the society they were born to, decisions are always taken in consideration of its impact on the family and its far-reaching implications to one's future - yes, even in a society as open and as liberal as Thailand.

It was a painful ending to a story of beautiful and pure love - a love nurtured and nested since childhood. But that is love, so beautiful but at the same time stings in its grasp of reality. Then again, love is always about letting go, as the old adage would say, and living life hopeful of its eventual return, sometimes in another form, sometimes in that most unexpected moments, in that most uneventful circumstances, there, we will find that love that completes our persons.

Best line from the movie: "As long as you love you still have hope."