February

I really liked this movie. I thought it was a bittersweet glimpse into the life of a dying woman. The soundtrack was incredible and I still listen to it even now, 12 years later. The film does start out rather slowly, but I felt that it picked up towards the middle. I was captivated with the story and waited anxiously for the next plot twist. The storyline made me care about the characters and cheer for them when things looked down. It was obviously done on a budget but even working within those constraints the film maker managed to get a lovely story across to the audience. If you like the feeling you get from investing in a character you will like this movie.

FEBRUARY is an excellent film, with the kind of detailed and exceptional camera work currently owned, seemingly, by South Korean filmmakers. The aesthetics of FEBRUARY are quite impressive, with lavish attention to detail in every scene. But if there is one complaint, it's that the movie goes on for about 15 minutes too long. It should have ended at the 90-minute mark -- had it done so, the film would have left a lasting impact on the audience, as we realize how cruel fate is. Even so, FEBRUARY is a must-see, and definitely marks the move toward maturity for the Thai film industry.

8 out of 10

to make it short, i really dislike this movie. I usually enjoy asian films- if they're good.

one of february's major flaws is the almost missing plot. i won't give away any detail now, in case you still come around this flick and decide to give it a go nevertheless.

still, stretching the already ultra-thin story over a time of almost 2 hours results in a complete narrative vacuum. this artistic void is further drained soulless by the lead actress' bad performance. displaying the same facial expression of stupefied amazedness for almost the entire length of the movie annoyed me beyond belief.

to make things even worse, the sound designer opted for outfitting "february" with a cheaply produced "melodramatic" soundtrack. you know what i'm talking about, cheap synthesizer chords underlined with some wannabe "deep" guitar solo. shudder. this is pulp hollywood melodrama gone thai.

additionally, the movie plays around with ambient sounds, like passing cars, which are suddenly cut off when the camera focuses on some actor. this destroys the last essence of credibility, if there ever was any in this dull, pointless, waste-of-time movie.

This movie for me represents a trial to take Thai movies further from silly comedies and action movies. Other people are doing this too(some better - e.g., Pang Brothers), but this is at least an attempt to make something that is art as well as entertainment.

The story and editing is a bit confused though, and the story is not as moving as it could have been. Also some really bad supporting roles (by Farangs - westerners, maybe the producers or friends/ relatives?) and the fact that some characters speak English as if they were trying to teach the Thais English just lowers the quality of the movie.

We are still waiting for really good Drama from Thailand...(but it's going to come soon, I foresee it)

I really haven't seen enough Thai films yet, but somehow the ones I did see left quite an impression. Lots of bright green, blue and pink colors, shrill voices with lots of -aaaaai sounds and a not too serious approach of their subject matter. With that in mind, February came as a surprise, as it feels a lot more like an alternative Hong-Kong effort. Nothing bad about that though.

Sometimes a few atmospheric screen caps and a nice poster are all that is needed to gain interest in a film. Such was the case with February. I didn't even bother to take a look at the short summary, I just went right ahead and watched it. Needless to say I was quite surprised when it dawned on me that most of the film takes place in New York. Hadn't seen that in a Thai film either.

In that sense, February can be compared to films like Collage Of Our Life and Blueberry Nights. These films take their characters to a big American city and give us a different view on the country. Luckily this doesn't affect the dialog too much, as the male lead has a pretty flawless American accent, and the female lead has very little English dialog.

But location is not all that connects this film to the later efforts of Kar-wai. Visually, there are quite a few parallels, especially when looking at the use of colors. Dark, warm overtones of green, red and orange dominate the film, giving it a very typical damp and hot atmosphere. Sippapak's approach is somewhat more modern though, which comes to play in the editing and the choice of music.

The film uses some classical drama arrangements, but also several loungy, trip-hop like tracks. And in fact, February is in many ways a cinematic equivalent of the trip-hop genre. At its core, it's a drama film, but rougher around the edges. The core story is an interesting tale of love and loss, but set in a twilight world of art and crime. The visual look is stylish but modern and the music equally reflects this.

The acting is solid and the story actually quite interesting. The ending left me with contradicting feelings, as this would have been the perfect film for that bad ending you never wanted, but in the end I felt at peace with the ending. Which wasn't too hard, as the characters were solid enough to feel for.

February is the kind of film that doesn't really excel at anything, but also fails nothing. Every aspect of the film is balanced and part of the whole. It's a nice drama with some timely accents, well acted and the film's a pleasure to look at. All in all a good reconnaissance with Sippapak, although a quick look at his other output suggests this is hardly a typical film for him. 4.0*/5.0*