Looking for a movie that touches you? Watch The Love Of Siam. Note: If you belong to the category of the "short attention span audience", which I belong to, the slow-paced unfolding of the narrative will try your patience.
But! It didn't deter me from sittng through the entire two and a half hours simply because of its honest and straightforward film style.
The opening scene of the film pretty much sets the pace for the entire film. Extremely slow tracking continuity shots which reveal different parts of Mew's house. Medium shots, with no sudden close-up or unexpected camera movements, frame the characters in their mundane daily lives. Furthermore, the use of lighting accompanied with non-diegetic music ease the smooth flow of the narrative.
The effect of the mise-en-scene and cinematography is verisimilitude: a simulation of reality, naturalism that the audience can relate to instantly. Stylistically, The Love Of Siam allows audience to easily identify with the issues, characters and their situations in the film.
Apart from the technical aspects that have achieved its intended effect, there's one character that will capture your full attention.
The cutest boy in the cast that will not only make sure you have your eyes on the screen every second but also wish you have a Thai-German boyfriend that looks exactly like him. Mario Maurer, plays the character Tong in the film, who falls in love with his childhood best friend and neighbour, Mew, played by Witwisit Hiranyawongkul.
Tong belongs to a staunch Christian family who faces problems as their daughter, Tong's elder sister Tang, goes missing. As Tong's parents leave him to stay with Mew and his grandmother while they look for their daughter, the friendship/love between Tong and Mew develops.
Perhaps what draws gay audience's attention is not merely because of the cute boy. And neither does the setting in Thailand distances us. But the issues such as societal norms and expectations, peer pressure, family values and objections are all too familiar and resonates in most of us.
For instance, Sunee, Tong's mother witnesses her son kissing Mew and was negatively impacted. What's new? Her inability to accept what she saw caused her to confront Mew, where she said to him:
"Tong is the only one we have left, and I don't want to see him taking a path that is not right ... In the future, when Tong has graduated, he has to find a job, save money, and look for a good wife, get married and have a happy family; where they can take care of each other when they grow old. That is life, Mew. I tried to make sure he grows up that way. Do it for Tong, Mew. Stop this relationship that you have with him."
My heart sank. It was something that I could not only understand but completely relate to. The pervasiveness of social norms and what is expected of us, or Tong as the only son in the film, haunts us. Until we can find a solution that can free us from the entrenchment of designated social roles and responsibilites, some of us will find that we will still have to hide our true emotions as Mew did.
Along with social norms, there is peer pressure where Tong's friends appear insensitive and not understanding of his frustrations. Thus, the issue of understanding and coming to terms to one's self-identity or sexuality becomes not only an evident but personal struggle. It often reminds us of the harsh reality that we are not individuals living alone in a vacuum but with one another in a heteronormative society.
Indeed, this naturalistic film with no drastic dramatic high points or sensationalizing of any sort may not appear appealing on its movie posters or DVD cover, it is definitely worth a watch for its ability to capture the sentiments of gay love, if not, relationships.
BY Shayne
