Not another Teen Movie

IT WOULD BE easy to dismiss Kongdej Jaturanrasamee’s new movie “Tang Wong” as a teen comedy without any depth. The poster after all shows youngsters in traditional Thai costumes in incomplete and awkward poses. But this is a drama that goes far beyond cliches.
Centred on four high school students living in public housing, “Tang Wong” examines how today’s young people interpret cultural ideals. Yong and Jay are outstanding students who are representing the school in the science quiz competition while Best is competing to land a place on the school’s table-tennis team to win a scholarship and ease his father’s financial burden. Em is a K-pop cover dance champion desperate to get his girlfriend back.
The boys make a vow in front of the spirit house in front of their block of flats that they will perform a traditional Thai dance in return for their wishes being granted. But like most Thai teens, they have no idea how to perform the dance and feel embarrassed about the idea. Fearing that bad things might happen unless they honour the vow, they ask a neighbour, the transgender dancer Nut, to teach them as they dig deep within themselves to find the courage to perform in front of the spirit house.
The film came about two years ago as part of a project by the Culture Ministry’s Office of Contemporary Art and Culture. While Kongdej was happy to take part in the campaign, he realised much to his embarrassment that he knew very little about Thai culture himself.
“If adults don’t know what Thai culture is, how we expect teens to understand it?”
Kongdej was aware of the culture of praying to the spirits and knew that believers would perform a traditional dance at the shrine to honour their side of the bargain. He searched for clips of these dances on YouTube and was stunned by what he found.
“I also read the comments people had posted online. Some of the ones about people who performed any which way just to redeem their vow were downright nasty while others just seemed to set out to hurt and humiliate. We should be proud of our traditional dance, not scathing about it.
“Perhaps praying and dancing at a shrine may seen ridiculous in this modern world but most Thai people have done it at least once. Superstitious or not, it’s something of a paradox.
“In this hi-tech age, we have so many tools to make dreams come true, yet many of us still yearn for supernatural help. I’m no exception. I spend a long time praying to my ancestors during the ancestor worship ceremony!”
“Tang Wong”, which is the name for a basic pose of traditional Thai dance, also implies the preparation that the young generation face in a world where cross-cultural phenomena make it hard to define what Thai culture really means.
While the director, who also wrote the screenplay, weaves various social ideas through his four characters, he has chosen to cast inexperienced actors in the roles. The acting is subtle and the locations are not contrived, turning the movie into a simple but realistic teenage drama that touches on several issues.
Kongdej took inspiration from Japanese coming-of-age movies and manga in the tradition of “Water Boys” or “Hula Girls”, adding Thai-flavoured satire and a twist at the very end.
 Fans of Kongdej might find that “Tang Wong” is reminiscent of his 2003 debut “Sayew”, which he co-directed with his childhood friend Kiat Songsanan. That too was a coming-of-age story about ordinary people living in ordinary accommodations and had a major political event as the background.
“There are similarities but also major differences. ‘Tang Wong’ is more realistic and conveys what I want to say,” says the director.
While “Sayew” took viewers back to the bloodshed of Black May in 1992, “Tang Wong” takes place during the Ratchaprasong protests of 2010.
“Politics affect our lives one way or another and even Em, Best and Nut are affected, even though they aren’t interested in politics at all,” says Kongdej. “Nut is in the dance troupe at the Erawan Shrine, Em rehearses his K-pop movies at Center Point in CentralWorld while Best has to look after his little brother when his dad joins the protest.”
“Tang Wong” premiered earlier this year in the Generation section of the Berlin International Film Festival and also screened in Hong Kong’s fest.
Unlike the award-winning “P-047” which had popular indie rock musician Apichai Tragoolpadetgrai as the protagonist, “Tang Wong” has no major stars, though Apichai contributed to the “Tang Wong” soundtrack.
Kongdej is hoping that the positive advance reviews will be enough to lure people to the cinema.
Critics have so far been bowled over by the movie, and they’re already tipping “Tang Wong” as one of the best Thai movies of the year.
“We’ve done our best and believe that the movie is more entertaining than “P-047”, so we hope people will come and enjoy it,” says the director.
 COME JOIN
THE DANCE
 - “Tang Wong” opens in cinemas today.