Feature Film Released
Interview provided by Memento Films Distribution
www.wonderfultown-lefilm.com
Wonderful Town – like your first two shorts, Motorcycle and Waiting – takes place in the countryside. Is that where you come from?
No, I was born and raised in Bangkok, the biggest city in Thailand. When I was 15, I went to study in the United States, and ended up staying there for 10 years. When I finally came back to Thailand I felt as if I were in a foreign country. That’s why I think the first two shorts I made here were almost as if they were seen through the eyes of a foreigner. I found life in the countryside as beautiful as a foreigner would. But, of course, for Thai people the countryside is probably nothing special, with all the heat, and the dust, and the hard work in the fields… Actually, when I go back and watch the shorts I made when I came back to Thailand for the first time, it gives me a pretty good idea of what I was like at that time.
©Rolex/Laurent Teisseire, 2008
Would you say you’re like Ton, the character in Wonderful Town – a city man who feels the need to find some peace and quiet?
Yes, of course. The character of Ton is a representation of myself. To put it simply: Ton travels to the south to take a holiday far away from his life as a city-dweller, far from the pressures of the city. At one time I even thought of calling the film Holiday. I think that when city people arrive at a certain state of weariness, the process that drives them to try and slow down for a while is a completely natural one. That’s the time when you try and go far away. But for Ton, it doesn’t turn out quite as he had imagined.
You studied in the United States for some years, and you made films there. What did you get out of this experience?
I didn’t just learn… If you go and live somewhere for a year or two, you can say that you’ve learned something there. But I lived there for more than a decade. That goes beyond a learning experience. I think I am an American. And when I’m in Thailand, I don’t really feel at home. And yet in the United States I feel deeply Thai. This phenomenon, this way of life, is very common these days. It’s grown hard to tell exactly where one is from… Identity is an idea that's become rather vague.
©Rolex/Laurent Teisseire, 2008
When did you get the idea for Wonderful Town? Just after the tsunami?
Wonderful Townfirst came to me in the shape of a love story. I’m always interested in people, their relationships, their love stories, because it’s feelings you always remember most clearly. I never intended to make a film on the tsunami. But as a director I’m very influenced by places – I need to actually go to a place to imagine a story, otherwise I can’t do it. That’s why I went to see Takua Pa, and said to myself “what an interesting place for a love story to develop between two strangers.” There’s something sad about the town. And I thought that the contrast between this sadness and the vitality of a love story would be interesting. That was the main idea. I only added the tsunami background later on.
The actors playing Na and Ton have a certain realistic freshness. Are they professionals?
No, we had a very tight budget, so they’re unknowns. The main actor is a musician in a bar, and the actress is a tourist guide. But I really think they were very good. Being real has nothing to do with whether you’re a professional actor or not.
©Rolex/Laurent Teisseire, 2008
An additional treat for Aditya was the presence of fellow protégé Josué Mendez (mentored by Stephen Frears) at the première.
You juxtapose a kissing scene involving the two lovers with a scene showing the sea. Is that the heart of your story? The sea at the centre of everything?
For me, the sea scene is a way of giving the feeling that the tsunami is still present in the young woman’s memory. The story takes place a year after the tragedy, but the memory of it is still imprinted on her mind. It’s always present in some way or another, even if not – or no longer – physically so.
Your film also deals with construction and reconstruction, in a constant dialogue between buildings and people – all of them, buildings and people, scarred.
Yes, I think that’s how I saw things at the start, when I got the idea of making this film. I just thought that the contrast between this old, sad town and the new, young love would be interesting. That was my original idea. And I think that when people see the end result, and use words like “rebirth” and “reconstruction”, they’re trying to express what I felt initially.
You have another project in the pipeline, High Society. Can you tell us about it?
High Society deals with people who don’t feel at home anywhere. The people who find it hard to discover their own identity. They’ve grown up and lived in so many different countries, steeped in such different cultures, that they come from nowhere in particular. You might say they’re at home everywhere or nowhere. It’s an interesting phenomenon, and that is the subject of my film.