The Love of Siam

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The Love of Siam

Thai theatrical poster

Directed by Chookiat Sakveerakul
Prachya Pinkaew
Produced by
Sukanya Vongsthapat
Written by Chookiat Sakveerakul
Witwisit Hiranyawongkul
Mario Maurer
Starring Chermarn Boonyasak
Sinjai Plengpanich
Songsit Rungnopakunsri
Cinematography Chitti Urnorakankij
Distributed by Sahamongkol Film International
Release date(s) Thailand:
November 22, 2007
Republic of China:
September 19, 2008
Japan:
 May 20, 2009
Singapore:
July 16, 2009
150 minutes
Running time
178 minutes (Director's Cut)
Country Thailand
Language Thai
Budget 17 million baht[1]
Gross revenue 42 million baht[2]

The Love of Siam (Thai: รักแห่งสยาม, RTGS: Rak Haeng Sayam, pronounced [rák hɛ̀ŋ
sà.jǎːm]) is a Thai romantic-drama film, written and directed by Chookiat Sakveerakul. A
multi-layered family drama, a groundbreaking element of the story is a gay romance
between two teenage boys.

The film was released in Thailand on 22 November 2007. The fact that the gay storyline
was not apparent from the film's promotional material initially caused controversy, but
the film was received with critical acclaim and proved financially successful. It
dominated Thailand's 2007 film awards season, winning the Best Picture category in all
major events,

Contents
 1 Plot
 2 Cast
 3 Reception
o 3.1 Marketing controversy, audience response
o 3.2 Box-office performance
o 3.3 Critical response
o 3.4 Awards
 4 Production
 5 Soundtrack
o 5.1 Track listing
 5.1.1 Disc 1 (CD)
 5.1.2 Disc 2 (VCD)
 6 DVD release
 7 See also
 8 References

 9 External links
[edit] Plot
Mew, a stubborn kid, is a neighbour of Tong. Tong is an energetic boy who lives with his
parents and sister. After accidentally spitting gum into Mew's hair, Tong wanted to
befriend with Mew but was unsuccessful. At school, Mew was cornered by several other
students was harassed until Tong stepped in to defend him. Tong was injured and
apologized to Mew for the chewing gum incident. Mew was grateful for Tong stepping in
and responded that they were even. The two became good friends from that point on.

Mew plays on his grandpa's piano and is joined by his grandma, who begins to play a
song. Mew asks his grandma why she liked that song and his grandma responded with
telling Mew that it was played for her by his grandpa. It was a way for him to express his
love to her and explains that one day, Mew will understand meaning of the song.

Tong's family goes to Chiangmai and returns without Tong's sister Tang since she wanted
to stay with her friends a couple days more. Tong bought Mew a present and decided to
give it to Mew piece by piece in a game of Treasure Hunt. One by one, Mew found all of
the pieces except for the last one which was hidden in a tree. The tree was cut down
before Mew was able to retrieve it leaving the present Tong bought for Mew incomplete.
Tong was disappointed at their misfortune, but Mew remained grateful for Tong's efforts.
Tang called her parents and told them that she would extend her stay at Chiangmai until
the 24th of December. Tong looks at his calendar and realizes that Tang will not be able
to attend the Christmas play he would participate in.

After the Christmas play, Tong receives a phone call from his parents telling him to stay
with Mew and his grandma. After spending the night at Mew's house, Tong awakens to
the sight of his parents along with Mew and his grandma. Tong is told that his parents are
going to Chiangmai a couple days to look for Tang. Tong lives in depression until his
parents come back, only to find out that Tang may be lost. Tong is devastated and cries in
front of Mew, who is trying to comfort his friend.

Months have passed and Tong's family decides to move. On the day of the move, Tong
finds Mew sitting on a ledge overlooking a pier. Tong says his final words and departs in
a car. Tong looks back only to find Mew walking towards the car before coming to a stop
and crying for losing his best friend.

Six years pass. 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 manager as
well as the entire band were all impressed with Mew's composition.

The boys share a prolonged kiss in Tong's backyard one night after a party in honor of the
return of "Tang". Prior to that 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, they have a
heart-to-heart talk about making choices, and Tong asks his 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 tells her that he cannot be with her. He then rushes to see Mew
play and is guided there by Ying, who has accepted the fact that Mew loves Tong. After
the performance, Tong gives Mew a gift, the missing nose from the wooden doll that
Tong gave him when they were children. However, Tong tells Mew he can't be his
boyfriend but that doesn't mean he doesn't love Mew.

The movie ended with Mew putting the missing nose back to the wooden puppet, saying
"thank you" and crying quietly.

[edit] Cast

from L-R :Aticha Pongsilpipat, Witwisit Hiranyawongkul, Chermarn Boonyasak, Sinjai

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

[edit] Reception
[edit] Marketing controversy, audience response

From left to right - Mario Maurer, Kanya Rattanapetch, Witwisit Hiranyawongkul and
Chookiat Sakveerakul

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

Thai-language web boards were posted with messages of support, as well as accusations
by moviegoers that they were misled into watching "a gay movie."[1]

Director Chookiat Sakveerakul 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.
[1]

"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.[1]

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."[1]

[edit] 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.[3] It slipped to No. 2 the following weekend, unseated by the comedy
film, Ponglang Amazing Theater.[4] In the third week of release, it had dropped to No. 5,
with to-date box office takings of US$1,198,637.[5] It has grossed a total of US$1,305,125
to date.

The film was officially released in Taiwan on September 19, 2008 and Singapore on July
16, 2009. It reached No. 12 at the Taiwan box office in opening week.[6]
[edit] Critical response

The Love of Siam was received with critical acclaim upon its release.

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.[7]

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."[8]

A reviewer for The Nation called the film "brilliantly conceived".[9]

A few critics found fault with the film, among them Gregoire Glachant of BK magazine,
who commented that "The Love of Siam isn't a very well shot movie. Chookiat'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."[10]

The movie also reached a rating of 8.3 (out of 10) on the Internet Movie Database.[11]

[edit] Awards

at Star Entertainment Awards 2007

The Love of Siam dominated Thailand's 2007 film awards season, winning the Best
Picture category in all major national film award events, including the Thailand National
Film Association Awards, Starpics Magazine's Starpics Awards, the Bangkok Critics
Assembly Awards, Star Entertainment Awards, and Kom Chad Luek Newspaper's Kom
Chad Luek Awards.[12] Awards won by the film include the following:

Starpics Awards Bangkok Critics Assembly Awards

 Best Picture  Best Picture
  Best Director (Chookiat Sakveerakul)
 Best Actor (Mario Maurer)
 Best Actress (Sinjai Plengpanich)
 Best Supporting Actor (Songsit
Rungnopakunsri)
 Best Screenplay (Chookiat
Sakveerakul)
 Best Cinematography (Chitti
Urnorakankij)
 Best Original Score (Kitti
Kuremanee)
 Popular Film.
Kom Chad Luek Awards
 Best Picture
 Best Actress (Sinjai Plengpanich)
Thailand National Film Association
Awards
 Best Picture
 Best Director (Chookiat Sakveerakul) Osaka Asian Film Festival 2009
 Best Director (Chookiat
Sakveerakul)
 Best Actress (Sinjai Plengpanich)
 Best Supporting Actress (Chermarn
Boonyasak)
 Best Screenplay (Chookiat
Sakveerakul)
 Best Original Score (Kitti
Kuremanee)
Star Entertainment Awards
 Best Picture
 Best Director (Chookiat
Sakveerakul)
 Best Actress (Sinjai Plengpanich)
 Best Supporting Actress (Chermarn
Boonyasak)
 Best Screenplay (Chookiat
Sakveerakul)
 Best Original Song

 Best Supporting Actress (Chermarn  Audience Award [13]

Boonyasak)

The film was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Mario Maurer) and Best
Composer (Kitti Kuremanee) categories in the Asian Film Awards at the Hong Kong
International Film Festival, but did not win.[14]

In October 2008, Mario Maurer won the Best Actor award in Southeast Asian film
category at the 10th Cinemanila International Film Festival.[15]

The Love of Siam is Thailand's submission to the 81st Academy Awards.[16]

[edit] Production
Chookiat Sakveerakul at the Thai press preview of The Love of Siam on November 21,
2007.

The film was first shot on December 26, 2006,[17] taking advantage of the Christmas
lights and decorations of Siam Square and the surrounding area.[18]

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 Chookiat Sakveerakul 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," Chookiat said in an interview before the film's release.[19]

A nearly three-hour "director's cut" was released in January, 2008 exclusively at the
House RCA cinema, and it played for several weeks of sold-out shows.

The film was a departure for Chookiat, 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 Hiranyawongkul, 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.[1]
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."[1]

[edit] Soundtrack
The Love of Siam Original Soundtrack

Soundtrack album by various artists

Released November 12, 2007
Thai rock
Genre
Thai pop
Length 45:20
Label Sahamongkol Film International
Producer Chookiat Sakveerakul

An 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 Chookiat Sakveerakul,
Witwisit Hiranyawongkul, the August band, Passakorn Wiroonsup and Flure, and a
VCD. The album proved popular, and had sold out of many shops in the weeks after its
release.[1] "Gun Lae Gun" spent seven weeks at number one on Seed 97.5 FM's charts.[20]

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

[edit] Track listing

[edit] Disc 1 (CD)

1. "Gun lae gun" ("กันและกัน") – performed by Suweera Boonrod (Flure) – 4:34

2. "Ticket (Day Trip)" – performed by Chookiat Sakveerakul & August Band – 3:34
ึ บ ้างไหม") (Live) – performed by Witwisit
3. "Roo suek barng mhai" ("รู ้สก
Hiranyawongkul – 4:16
 4. "Pieng ter" ("เพียงเธอ") – performed by Witwisit Hiranyawongkul – 4:12
5. "Gun lae gun" ("กันและกัน") (Acoustic version) – performed by Chookiat
Sakveerakul – 6:20
6. "Kuen aun pen niran" ("คืนอันเป็ นนิรันดร์") – performed by Passakorn Wiroonsup
– 3:07
7. "Gun lae gun" ("กันและกัน") (Live) – performed by Witwisit Hiranyawongkul –
6:02
ึ บ ้างไหม ") (Original Mix) – performed by Witwisit
8. "Roo suek barng mhai" ("รู ้สก
Hiranyawongkul – 5:00
9. "Pieng ter" ("เพียงเธอ") (Demo) – performed by Chookiat Sakveerakul – 4:23
10. "Ticket (Night Trip)" (Bonus Track) – Instrumental – 3:50

[edit] 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

[edit] DVD release

The standard DVD for The Love of Siam (theatrical version, 151 minutes) was released
on February 19, 2008 in anamorphic widescreen format with Thai Dolby Digital 5.1 and
Dolby 2.0 Surround audio tracks[21] and a commentary by the director. The DVD includes
music videos, trailer and a photo gallery.

The three-disc director's cut DVD was released on April 9, 2008. Discs 1 and 2 contain
the 173 minutes director's cut of the film. Disc 3 includes a trailer, a film documentary,
deleted scenes, a Making Of, character introduction, a live concert, an interview with the
songwriter and the complete theatrical version with an on-screen commentary by the
director.

In addition, an audio CD, a wooden doll, postcards, the letter and a note of "Gun lae gun"
are featured in a limited DVD Boxset.[22]

The Love of Siam was released as a Collector's Edition 3 DVD-Set in Taiwan on January
21, 2009. This edition duplicates the Thai three-disc director's cut DVD and adds an
exclusive extra of the director's and stars' reception in Taiwan. This is the only DVD of
the director's cut that has English subtitles on both the film and the extras, except the
Making Of which doesn't have any subtitles.[23]

All Thailand editions mentioned before are now out of print. A budget-price one disc
version [24] was released in 2009, accompanied by a two disc version of the director's cut.
[25]
The Love of Siam (theatrical version) was released in the US on October 13, 2009.[26] The
only extra is the trailer. This is the only DVD of the theatrical version that has English
subtitles.
[27]

[edit] See also

 List of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender-related films by storyline

[edit] References