Love of Siam (English Sub) 14 by allgayworld
Love of Siam (English Sub) 17 (The End)
The Love of Siam (Thai: รักแห่งสยาม, RTGS: Rak Haeng Sayam, pronounced [rák hɛ̀ŋ sà.jǎːm]) is a 2007 Thai gay-themed 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 November 22, 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,
Ten-year olds Mew and Tong are neighbors. Mew is a soft-featured but stubborn kid, while Tong is a more masculine, energetic boy who lives with his parents and sister, a Christian Thai family. After accidentally spitting gum into Mew's hair, Tong wants to befriend Mew, but the quiet boy and his outgoing neighbor are not initially close. At school, effeminate Mew is teased by several other students and harassed until Tong steps in to defend him. Tong receives injuries and now they begin a friendship. Tong apologizes to Mew for the chewing gum incident. Mew is grateful for Tong stepping in and responds that now they are even. Mew plays on his late 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 responds by telling Mew that it was played for her by his grandpa. It was a way for him to express his love to her and she explains that one day, Mew will understand the meaning of the song.
Tong's family is going on vacation to Chiangmai and his older sister, Tang, begs her mother to be allowed to stay on with her friends a couple days more. Tong buys Mew a present and decides to give it to Mew piece by piece in a game of Treasure Hunt, a tradition in his family. One by one, Mew finds all of the pieces except for the last one which is hidden in a tree. The tree is cut down just as Mew is about to retrieve it leaving the present Tong bought for Mew incomplete. Tong is disappointed at their misfortune, but Mew remains grateful for Tong's efforts.
From Chiangmai, Tang calls her parents and tells them that she will be extending her stay in 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. The parents worry about their daughter. Tang cannot be reached. 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. His parents go to Chiangmai to look for their daughter Tang, who may have gotten lost on a trek into the mountains. Tong becomes devastated that his sister is missing, and cries as Mew tries comfort his friend.
Months have passed and Tong's family decides to move to another part of Bangkok. 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; Tong's father is a severe alcoholic, due to his guilt for losing his daughter. Tong has a pretty--but uptight--girlfriend, Donut. Tong and Mew are reunited during their senior year of high school at Siam Square. The musically talented Mew is the lead singer of a boy band called August. The meeting stirs up old feelings that Mew has harbored since boyhood, his love for Tong.
The manager of Mew's band, Aod, instructs the young musicians--their songwriter Mew in particular--that they must write a song about love in order to sell more records. He assigns them a new assistant manager, June. Coincidentally, June looks just like Tong's missing sister, Tang. When Tong eventually meets her, he and his mother, Sunee, devise to a plan to hire 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 grace at the dinner table. Mew is also the object of an unrequited crush of an obsessive neighbor girl, Ying, who is trying to use a voodoo doll and other tricks to make the boy like her. Unfortunately for her, Mew is more interested in his boyhood friend Tong, who has now become the inspiration for writing the new songs. The manager, as well as the entire band, are all impressed with Mew's composition.
As part of the deception with "Tang," a backyard party is held in honor of her return, and Mew's band August provides the entertainment. Singing the new love song for the first time in public, Mew's eyes lock intensely with Tong's. June notices this. After the party, everyone has left and the two boys are left alone in the yard. They share a prolonged kiss. Unseen, Tong's mother Sunee walks in on this and is stunned and upset. The next day, she goes to meet Mew and fiercely instructs him to stay away from her son, because her family has had enough troubles. When Tong finds out that his mother has interfered, he argues with her, but she has succeeded in creating a rift between the teens which persists for some time. Mew is heartbroken and loses his musical inspiration, so he quits the band.
Tong wants to obey his mother and be a good son, but he also resents that she has forbidden the love that he is becoming more certain about. At Christmas time, as he and his mother are decorating a Christmas tree, he finally finds a touching way to reconcile with her. Because she accepts him now, he in turn becomes more respectful of her, as we soon see. June has saved money and heads off in a bus to start another life, and it remains uncertain whether she was really Tang.
Tong then goes to Siam Square for a date with Donut. Mew has finally been able to rejoin the band, and they are 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. Although now more certain about his same-sex feelings, perhaps he is now considering his family, because he tells Mew he "can't be his boyfriend but that doesn't mean he doesn't love [him]." However, the friendship of the two continues.
The film ends with Mew putting the missing nose back to the wooden puppet, saying "thank you" and crying quietly.
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
Kom Chad Luek Awards
Thailand National Film Association Awards
| Bangkok Critics Assembly Awards
Star Entertainment Awards
Osaka Asian Film Festival 2009
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