*first of all , I am not good in giving summaries so please forgive me. It's a work in progress. :)
please click the photos for the credits of the pictures. I do not own them.
Rating: 7.5/10
Directed and Written by: Puttipong Pormsaka Na-Sakonnakorn and Wasin Pokpong
Release Date: Aug 12, 2010 (Thailand)
Runtime: 118 minutes
Language: Thai
Lead Actors: Pimchanok Lerwisetpibol (Nam) and Mario Maurer (Chon)
Now, First Love ( A Crazy Little Thing Called Love) has been one of the more popular movies among social networking sites for the past month. Most of my Facebook contacts and Tumblr acquaintances rave about how good the movie is. I, the ever-so-curious-kid, finally decided to download this movie and see what these people are going ga-ga about.
Three hours and 1.9 GB later, the downloading was finished and I started to watch the movie.
(Warning: SPOILERS ahead.Continue reading at your own risk)
The story starts with a photo exhibit at the Siam Museum. A photographer is being interviewed by a group of girls about his works as he explained the subject and theme of his photography. Then a baby started crying and he excuses himself from the interviewers to attend to his "son". A voice-over starts speaking (a girl) narrating how there's always this one person who we keep in our heart regardless of the pain he/she brings to us because he/she will always make us feel that crazy little thing called love.
Then the screen starts to show us Nam (Fern Lerwisetpibol), an awkward little girl, with her friends. It is revealed that Nam is mooning over a high school senior, Chone (played by Mario Maurer) and she is trying all her best to get him to notice her. She and her friends start using a book with instructions on how to get the attention of the person they like. Nam's friends help her do the steps on the book like wishing on a star, hynotizing (sort of) Shone, giving Shone gifts secretly and applying skin whitener to make her beautiful. Oddly enough, certain occasions led to Nam having close encounters with Shone. One significant time was when Shone, noticing a basketball player was bullying Nam and her friends, rushes to their aid and buys them four Pepsi. Shone gets into a fight with the school bully and Nam, hearing about what happened, runs to the place where the fight was taking place. They were too late though. All they found were some drops of blood on the floor and a button. Nam picks up the button and assumed that it was torn from Shone's shirt.
After that, Nam and her friends join the drama club and Nam was chosen to play Snow White. Shone was also in the drama club and he was in charge of the decorations and photography. Although the interaction between the two was limited, Nam was still thrilled because she still gets the chance to see Shone everyday. During the rehearsal, Nam had a makeover (with the help of Pin, a senior and Shone's friend). Pin asks Shone about what he thinks of Nam and the latter answers Nam looked the same, Snow White with braces. Nam is saddened by the remark. Later on the rehearsal, Nam almost falls from the stage but Shone grabs her hand to save her.
On the day of the festival, Shone did not go to see the play. However, Nam sees a good-looking guy in the audience. Nam took Shone's absence negatively but what she didn't know was that Shone was with the principal for the awarding ceremony of a photography contest where he won third place. After the play, Nam found a bitten apple with a note, "For Snow White, I tasted the apple and it was not poisoned at all.) Nam hoped the apple came from Shone but her friends dismissed the idea and told her it must have been from the guy who played Prince because they saw him eating an apple.
The good-looking guy turned out to be Shone's childhood best friend, Top. He develops an interest on Nam but Shone continuously discourage him because Nam is "too young" for him. Nam was then recruited to be the majorette for the city parade. We can see Nam's slow transformation from being an awkward girl to a very attractive lady. She became popular after the parade and boys started asking her out. Nam, however, ignores the attention because all she desires is to get Shone to notice her.
During Valentines Day, Shone gave Nam an uprooted rose (white) plant (yes, not a rose stem but the entire plant). Nam thought it was the moment she was waiting for but Shone quickly adds that it was from his friend. Nam was saddened by that fact. She finds a note that was secretly placed on her bag. It was from someone who was asking her to meet up on the third floor because that person has something to tell her. Nam's hope immediately rose and she thought it was from Shone. Apparently she was wrong. The note was from Top. Top asked Nam to be his girlfriend. Nam did not answer but they started going out since then. She thought it was a way to get close to Shone. Meanwhile, Nam's friends start to feel neglected as Nam misses one of her friends birthday.
While they were having a campfire celebration for Shone's friend, Top and Shone revealed that they had a pact that both will never fall in love with the same girl. Nam was shocked with the news. That night also, Top kisses Nam on the cheek and Shone seemed to be surprised at what happened. Nam stopped seeing Top after that incident.
On graduation day, Nam decided to confess to Shone once and for all. With the help of her friends (who she made up with), Nam goes to the pool and gives Shone a white rose in which she tied the button and a card. She told him that she tried her best to be good enough for Shone but what she should have done from the very beginning is tell him how much she loved him. Shone, taken aback from the confession, accepts the rose. Nam notices the note on Shone's shirt which reads "Pin loves Shone". She realizes that Shone has a girlfriend already (Pin, the makeup artist who turned out to be Nam's friend also) and Nam begins to cry, obviously from the helplessness of her situation. Shone tries to comfort her but Nam walks away after telling Shone that he and Pin make a good couple.
Nam is seen crying on her room after the incident. Shone, on the other hand, arrives at his house. His father tells him that he has to go to Bangkok that night because he was accepted to train in the Bangkok Glass team ( I think that's the soccer team of Thailand). Shone was gleeful at the news. He runs to the kitchen and opens the fridge and we see the box of chocolate that Nam has given Shone almost two years ago. Apparently, he kept it.
He walks into his room and gets a notebook from his table. It turns out that this notebook is a scrapbook containing pictures of Nam that Shone took over the years. It was a testament of how he really felt for her. (This is actually my favorite part of the movie). It
is then shown that Shone had loved Nam even before she started using that funny book. When he said that Nam looked the same when Pin asked him, what he really wanted to say was she looked the same, cute as always. It is also revealed that he treasured the time when he grabbed her hands but he had to let her go immediately in fear that people might get curious. The apple also came from him and the rose that he gave Nam on Valentines Day was actually from him as well. He just could not get the courage to tell her the truth because he was tight-lipped. What's sweet is that he grew the rose plant himself. :))
He goes to Nam's house and leaves the notebook on her doorstep. He did not say goodbye to Nam.
Nine years later, Shone is seen to stop by a showroom with a baby on his back. He sees Pin and gives the baby to her. It is then revealed that the baby was not Shone's son. Pin only asked him to babysit for her.
Meanwhile, a grown-up Nam (now a fashion designer from the US) was being interviewed in a local TV show. She was then surprised when the host shows her Shone's scrapbook and was even more surprised when the host calls on Shone and he appeared on the set holding a bouquet for Nam. The host asked them if there was something they wanted to tell each other and Shone said that he wanted to tell Nam that the button she picked up was not his. Nam then asked Shone if he ever was married and Shone answered "I have been waiting for someone to return from the US".
The story is really very simple. It may even be predictable at times. What I didn't like about the movie was the rather simplistic (and almost unreal) ending. It was as though the director wanted to just get the movie over with and they did not really think of a better way to end it (or better lines, for that matter).
Another annoying fact about the movie is the recurring themes of how being white-skinned is equated to being beautiful and how important being beautiful is to make boys to notice you. Although these themes reflect real life, it is still disappointing because what the mass media should be showing are things that are empowering women and not things that will just make them feel ugly and discontented about themselves. Call me idealistic but that's my two cents.
The positive side of this movie is the lasting effects it has on the viewers. It can make you think about the story even days after you've watched it. I think the magic of the movie is how it was able to bring back a lot of the high school memories that we seemed to have forgotten due to the other problems we have to face as adults. It triggers your memories of that one puppy love you have so enjoyed during your teenage years and how blissful life was when all you had to worry about were boys and your studies.
It's a feel-good movie, that's a fact. I think another thing that adds to the entertainment value of the movie is the chemistry between the two lead actors (not to mention how good looking Mario Maurer is). The transformation of Nam from that awkward girl to a beautiful lady is also amazing because one would seem to think that the character was played by two different actresses.
please click the photos for the credits of the pictures. I do not own them.
Rating: 7.5/10
Directed and Written by: Puttipong Pormsaka Na-Sakonnakorn and Wasin Pokpong
Release Date: Aug 12, 2010 (Thailand)
Runtime: 118 minutes
Language: Thai
Lead Actors: Pimchanok Lerwisetpibol (Nam) and Mario Maurer (Chon)
I am not a fan of romantic movies, that I would like to say. I find them cheesy and simplistic and they rarely reflect what happens in the real world. You might have guessed that I am because of my blog's name. I am a cynic in every possible sense of the word. When I watch romantic films, I cringe at the scenes where the guy confesses his love for the lead actress (or the other way around), when they kiss and any other scene that shouts "Warning: Too much cheesiness on-screen". I would like to make it clear though that I have had my fair share of swooning and kilig moments from some really good love stories like Keith, Spirited Away (yes, that's a love story for me so shut up) and Titanic (perhaps). I don't hate them all coz there are really some good ones out there that can take your breath away and make you believe that true love is indeed true.
Now, First Love ( A Crazy Little Thing Called Love) has been one of the more popular movies among social networking sites for the past month. Most of my Facebook contacts and Tumblr acquaintances rave about how good the movie is. I, the ever-so-curious-kid, finally decided to download this movie and see what these people are going ga-ga about.
Three hours and 1.9 GB later, the downloading was finished and I started to watch the movie.
(Warning: SPOILERS ahead.
Then the screen starts to show us Nam (Fern Lerwisetpibol), an awkward little girl, with her friends. It is revealed that Nam is mooning over a high school senior, Chone (played by Mario Maurer) and she is trying all her best to get him to notice her. She and her friends start using a book with instructions on how to get the attention of the person they like. Nam's friends help her do the steps on the book like wishing on a star, hynotizing (sort of) Shone, giving Shone gifts secretly and applying skin whitener to make her beautiful. Oddly enough, certain occasions led to Nam having close encounters with Shone. One significant time was when Shone, noticing a basketball player was bullying Nam and her friends, rushes to their aid and buys them four Pepsi. Shone gets into a fight with the school bully and Nam, hearing about what happened, runs to the place where the fight was taking place. They were too late though. All they found were some drops of blood on the floor and a button. Nam picks up the button and assumed that it was torn from Shone's shirt.
On the day of the festival, Shone did not go to see the play. However, Nam sees a good-looking guy in the audience. Nam took Shone's absence negatively but what she didn't know was that Shone was with the principal for the awarding ceremony of a photography contest where he won third place. After the play, Nam found a bitten apple with a note, "For Snow White, I tasted the apple and it was not poisoned at all.) Nam hoped the apple came from Shone but her friends dismissed the idea and told her it must have been from the guy who played Prince because they saw him eating an apple.
The good-looking guy turned out to be Shone's childhood best friend, Top. He develops an interest on Nam but Shone continuously discourage him because Nam is "too young" for him. Nam was then recruited to be the majorette for the city parade. We can see Nam's slow transformation from being an awkward girl to a very attractive lady. She became popular after the parade and boys started asking her out. Nam, however, ignores the attention because all she desires is to get Shone to notice her.During Valentines Day, Shone gave Nam an uprooted rose (white) plant (yes, not a rose stem but the entire plant). Nam thought it was the moment she was waiting for but Shone quickly adds that it was from his friend. Nam was saddened by that fact. She finds a note that was secretly placed on her bag. It was from someone who was asking her to meet up on the third floor because that person has something to tell her. Nam's hope immediately rose and she thought it was from Shone. Apparently she was wrong. The note was from Top. Top asked Nam to be his girlfriend. Nam did not answer but they started going out since then. She thought it was a way to get close to Shone. Meanwhile, Nam's friends start to feel neglected as Nam misses one of her friends birthday.
While they were having a campfire celebration for Shone's friend, Top and Shone revealed that they had a pact that both will never fall in love with the same girl. Nam was shocked with the news. That night also, Top kisses Nam on the cheek and Shone seemed to be surprised at what happened. Nam stopped seeing Top after that incident.
On graduation day, Nam decided to confess to Shone once and for all. With the help of her friends (who she made up with), Nam goes to the pool and gives Shone a white rose in which she tied the button and a card. She told him that she tried her best to be good enough for Shone but what she should have done from the very beginning is tell him how much she loved him. Shone, taken aback from the confession, accepts the rose. Nam notices the note on Shone's shirt which reads "Pin loves Shone". She realizes that Shone has a girlfriend already (Pin, the makeup artist who turned out to be Nam's friend also) and Nam begins to cry, obviously from the helplessness of her situation. Shone tries to comfort her but Nam walks away after telling Shone that he and Pin make a good couple.
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| Photo credits: krzl09bggsh.tumblr.com |
He walks into his room and gets a notebook from his table. It turns out that this notebook is a scrapbook containing pictures of Nam that Shone took over the years. It was a testament of how he really felt for her. (This is actually my favorite part of the movie). It
is then shown that Shone had loved Nam even before she started using that funny book. When he said that Nam looked the same when Pin asked him, what he really wanted to say was she looked the same, cute as always. It is also revealed that he treasured the time when he grabbed her hands but he had to let her go immediately in fear that people might get curious. The apple also came from him and the rose that he gave Nam on Valentines Day was actually from him as well. He just could not get the courage to tell her the truth because he was tight-lipped. What's sweet is that he grew the rose plant himself. :))
He goes to Nam's house and leaves the notebook on her doorstep. He did not say goodbye to Nam.
Nine years later, Shone is seen to stop by a showroom with a baby on his back. He sees Pin and gives the baby to her. It is then revealed that the baby was not Shone's son. Pin only asked him to babysit for her.
Meanwhile, a grown-up Nam (now a fashion designer from the US) was being interviewed in a local TV show. She was then surprised when the host shows her Shone's scrapbook and was even more surprised when the host calls on Shone and he appeared on the set holding a bouquet for Nam. The host asked them if there was something they wanted to tell each other and Shone said that he wanted to tell Nam that the button she picked up was not his. Nam then asked Shone if he ever was married and Shone answered "I have been waiting for someone to return from the US".
The story is really very simple. It may even be predictable at times. What I didn't like about the movie was the rather simplistic (and almost unreal) ending. It was as though the director wanted to just get the movie over with and they did not really think of a better way to end it (or better lines, for that matter).
Another annoying fact about the movie is the recurring themes of how being white-skinned is equated to being beautiful and how important being beautiful is to make boys to notice you. Although these themes reflect real life, it is still disappointing because what the mass media should be showing are things that are empowering women and not things that will just make them feel ugly and discontented about themselves. Call me idealistic but that's my two cents.
The positive side of this movie is the lasting effects it has on the viewers. It can make you think about the story even days after you've watched it. I think the magic of the movie is how it was able to bring back a lot of the high school memories that we seemed to have forgotten due to the other problems we have to face as adults. It triggers your memories of that one puppy love you have so enjoyed during your teenage years and how blissful life was when all you had to worry about were boys and your studies.
It's a feel-good movie, that's a fact. I think another thing that adds to the entertainment value of the movie is the chemistry between the two lead actors (not to mention how good looking Mario Maurer is). The transformation of Nam from that awkward girl to a beautiful lady is also amazing because one would seem to think that the character was played by two different actresses.
Nam (before)
Nam (After)
See what I mean?
If you are looking for a romantic comedy that will not require you to think deeply, then I guess this movie is the right one for you. It's not boring but it's not spectacular either. It's so-so. Was it worth the download? Somehow. It's definitely something that can keep you company on a rainy night when you just want to feel good and feel loved. ;p
Here's the trailer if you're curious. XD
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