Six director friends from Chulalongkorn University Film School experimentally join forces to tell a story from the heart about childhood love and unexpectedly end up breaking Thai box office records with the feel-good film, "My Girl (Fan Chan)."
Girls will be girls, and boys will be… well, boys. Jaeb (Chawin Chitsomboon) has just received a wedding invitation from his best childhood friend Noinah, after not hearing from her for more than 15 years. She was his one true friend, he remembers, "my first love – only I didn't recognize it at the time." Driving back to his small Thai hometown, he reminisces about the joys of his childhood. Girls gracefully mastering their rubber string jumping skills, while boys voraciously compete in bike-racing or their rubber band flipping games. The girls would pretend to bake cupcakes while the boys pretend to be kung-fu fighters.
Young Jeab (Chalee Trirat) had grown up playing with the girl next door, Noinah (Focus Jeerakul). She was his best friend since they were toddlers, and the only one who would play with him, having been ignored by all the boys because he was "little." At first Jaeb enjoys playing with Noinah, but when he starts getting bullied, Jaeb soon wishes he were playing soccer and getting in trouble with the boys instead of always playing house with the girls. In order to join the gang of boys, however, he needs to prove himself worthy. Unfortunately, Jaeb's desperate need for acceptance could lead to another thing boys are notoriously good at -- breaking girls' hearts.
The storyline is simple, and adorably so. The girls are sweet, the boys are rambunctious. Stereotypical? Sure, but get over it, because this isn't your deep, psychoanalytical, controversial, breaking-barriers type of movie. It's cute, it's light-hearted, and what producer Prasert Wiwattananonpong really hopes is that the film makes you smile and remember your first love. And it succeeds. My Girl is endearing and genuinely funny. The fact that the children in the movie are all new actors gives them a certain believability. Their performances are natural, and their interactions capture the silliness and carefree innocence that comes with being a ten-year-old kid, unconsciously making memories that last a lifetime.
What the overall plot lacks in surprise, the film makes up for in the original characters and amusing details. For example, Jaeb and Noinah's fathers are rival barbers with distinct hair-cutting philosophies who refuse to acknowledge each other or each other's customers, despite the fact that their shops are only separated by one apartment. Chalee and Focus glow on-screen, and they're surrounded by eccentric, hysterical friends that complete the bunch. Chaleumpol Tikumpornteerawong, in particular, as Jack, is ridiculously comedic as the ring-leader bully of the mischievous boy gang that never stops eating and gets a kick out of making Jeab's life miserable. He was recently named Best Supporting Actor at this year's Golden Supannahong Awards, the Thai equivalent of the Oscar.
What makes the film more unique is the unconventional approach the filmmakers took to put the project together. The producers approached six film students, friends from Chulalongkorn University, and requested that all six of them write and direct this film together. Inevitably, there were many arguments behind the scenes, which is expected when six passionate people with distinct, strong opinions are forced to unanimously agree on one option. To make matters more difficult, they had decided to tackle a topic that is commonly considered taboo in Thailand, a film about children, certain to flop at the box office. The gamble paid off. Despite doubts, the film only took three months to shoot and 18 million baht to make.
As a result, My Girl was number one last year in Thailand and became one of Thailand's five top-grossing movies of all time, making 137 million baht (40 baht=1 dollar). Now, the film's child stars are celebrities in Thailand, and the six directors are off making their own projects, still remaining friends, but grateful that they never have to work together again. However, My Girl will always remain special to the filmmakers and also to the audience, because it touches a special spot in all our hearts, a place full of fond childhood memories. The characters in My Girl sing, they dance, they charm us over and make us forget any of our pretentious preconceptions that the art of film should require more depth than nostalgia. We're just happy to be along for the ride.
A screening of My Girl, followed by a Q&A session with producer Prasert Wiwattananonpong, kicked off the Thai film festival, "Bangkok: Cinema City," on Friday, June 4th, at the James Bridges Theater in UCLA. For more info about the UCLA screening, visit: //www.international.ucla.edu/printevent.asp?eventid=1807.
The film has been released in Thailand For more information, go to www.fanchanmovie.com.