If you're familiar with Thai romantic comedies, you know that many movies in the genre feature exaggerated characters, who bounce between emotional extremes to sometimes jarring effect; broad humor, which can veer into super weird and even scatological territory; and zany sound effects that punctuate jokes with cartoonish abandon. Sometimes all these things occur at the same time. For example, in the hit Movie,I Fine..Thank You..Love You (2014), there's a scene in which a guy angrily (emotional extreme) catches a lizard in between his butt cheeks (broad humor), and crushes it to death with his ass (sound effects).
Heart Attack(2015) (a.k.a.Freelance) happens to starSunny Suwanmethanont, who hammed it up inI Fine..Thank You..Love You, andDavika Hoorne(nicknamed "Mai"), who played a ghost in the irreverent runaway hit comedy,Pee Mak (2013). So when you watchHeart Attack—one of the last movies produced by Thailand's most successful studio, GMM Tai Hub/GTH,before it shut down for good—it's a bit disorienting because the film's characters have remarkable verisimilitude and internalize their feelings. It's an effect achieved through the documentary-like cinematography by Niramon Ross, as well as through Suwanmethanont's understated voiceover/inner monologue throughout. Also, the comedy is, for the most part, restrained, subtle—but even the bigger gags land, not because of loony sound effects but because they're rooted in character, in people's obsessions and aches.
There's a scene early in the movie in which Yoon (played by Suwanmethanont), an in-demand freelance graphic designer who is a workaholic and can literally go days without sleep, shows up at the funeral of his friend's dad to pay his respects. But Yoon is on a tight deadline for an important project, so he asks a monk for the temple's wi-fi password and he's soon hunched over his laptop next to the dead man's shrine, sending a computer file. It's tacky, sure, but work is Yoon's entire life.
But that's not to say he doesn't want to be in the career he's found himself in. He can work nonstop because he's fueled by his talent and the praise that comes with it, as well as the real fear that if he turned down job offers the work would dry up. Then what would he do with his life?
But one day this lifestyle begins to take its toll. He discovers a rash on his body which eventually turns into small lesions that multiply as he leaves them untreated. And that's how he meets Imm (played by Hoorne), a firm but well-intentioned doctor.
"Heart Attack" Official International Trailer w/Eng Sub on YouTube
Other Thai rom-coms would push the couple into wacky situations. Instead, inHeart Attack, the mutual courtship is so downplayed that you begin to wonder if this movie can be classified as a romance at all. Most of Yoon and Imm's scenes together take place inside a hospital, inside her office, save one particularly compelling conversation set in the hospital's driveway that revels in its awkward silences.
But the film isn't just stylistically hemmed to introspection and quiet. Writer/director Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, who basedHeart Attackon some of his own experiences as a freelancer, can be a showman when he wants to be. He manages to make the scenes of Yoon working on graphic design projectsexciting. You get caught up in work, watching him remove pimples on photographs and instantly giving celebrities bigger breasts, as deadlines get perilously close, and you feel the depth of his obsession with what he does, with what he's good at, with the PhotoShop illusions he has power over.
When all that is contrasted with the very real Imm, seemingly confined to her calm office, you want some magic to happen between the two of them. But since we're watching a movie that plays against genre, there's a genuine sense of suspense about the outcome. It's like being afflicted with a mysterious rash and not knowing how it'll all turn out until the resolution finally comes.
Thai Movie Central Rating
How to Watch the Full Movie (with Thai Audio and English Subtitles)
—Watch on iTunes (rent/buy).
Additional Notes
—The Thai title of this movie is ฟรีแลนซ์..ห้ามป่วย ห้ามพัก ห้ามรักหมอ (transliteration: freelance: ham puay, ham phak, ham rak mor), which means "freelance: do not get sick, do not rest, do not love the doctor."
—Director Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit co-wrote the screenplay forBangkok Traffic (Love) Story (2009), a romantic comedy about a woman who falls in love with aBTSengineer.
—The film features the song, "Vacation Time," sung mostly in Thai byViolette Wautier(who co-stars in the movie) andStamp Apiwat Eurthavornsuk. It is actually a cover ofan English-language song by Part Time Musicians. Here's the Thai music video.
Music Video for "Vacation Time" by Violette Wautier and Stamp Apiwat Eurthavornsuk
—Violette Wautieris better known as a pop singer.
—Part Time Musiciansis a Thai indie folk band.
—You can download the Part Time Musicians single of "Vacation Time" on iTunes.
—The movie wonThailand National Film Association Awards(a.k.a. Supannahong Awards) for Best Picture, Best Actor (Sunny Suwanmethanont), Best Actress (Davika Hoorne), Best Supporting Actress (Violette Wautier), Best Director (Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit), Best Screenplay (Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit), and Best Score (Hualampong Riddim) in 2016. It was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Torpong Chantabubpha), Best Editing (Chonlasit Upanigkit), Best Cinematography (Niramon Ross), Best Sound (Kantana Sound Lab), Best Art Direction (Phairot Siriwath), Best Costume Design (Wasana Benjachat), and Best Make-Up (Benjawan Sroy-in).
—The film won the ABC Award (for Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit) at the Osaka Asian Film Festival in 2016.
—Screenwriter: Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit.
—Director: Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit.
—Cast:Sunny Suwanmethanont(Yoon),Davika Hoorne(Imm), Violette Wautier (Je), Torpong Chantabubpha (Peng), Surattanawee Suviporn (Bo), Kornpassorn Ratanameathanont (Joyce), Nottapon Boonprakob (Kai).
—Movie images and video © GMM Tai Hub, Jorkwang Films.
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Related Posts You Might Enjoy
—Movie Review: I Fine..Thank You..Love You (2014)
—Movie Review: Pee Mak (2013)
—Movie Review: Bangkok Traffic (Love) Story (2009)
—All Posts About Sunny Suwanmethanont Movies
—All Posts About Davika Hoorne Movies
—All Posts About Romantic Comedy Movies
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