Bangkok Love Story (2007)

Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Blistering performances.

It is almost 2h and it's really a waste of time. The only good thing in the movie is the really hot guy Chaiwat Thongsaeng. All the ideas in the film are very interesting, but the director's work sucks. When you expect something to happen, it vanishes. All the characters lack profundity and there is only Chaiwat Thongsaeng who screams "I miss you" all the time. This love is impossible and it will remain like this. If Chaiwat Thongsaeng's character was really a lawyer, it would be stupid to fall in love with his killer and even to plan his own suicide( the scene in the bathroom). for me the movie is illogical, boring, very confusing and it was boring!

Many complain that "Bangkok Love Story," (the original Thai title for this translates into "Buddy, I love you man!") is too melodramatic. Film is fantasy, I believe, a way to escape into another world where emotions and images are cranked up a few notches. The beauty of this odd film from Thailand is at times staggering, and the director has achieved something so rare: he managed to make a gay-themed film that is actually cool, instead of silly and embarrassing junk that is most gay cinema. Meht, nicknamed 'Cloud' lives on a roof overlooking a grey, but beautiful Bangkok. The contract killer seems untamed, long straggly hair in his big haunted eyes, as he oversees the city, waiting to execute the next kill. His target is the innocent and gentle Itt, a lawyer with a seemingly perfect life. However things don't go as planned, and a powerful bond soon develops between these two very different men. The two leads are excellent, and the subject matter has never been handled in a more mature, intelligent way before. Scenes of bloody violence and ugliness walk hand in hand with intense beauty. The art direction and cinematography are dazzling, and the story is as tragic and as dramatic as films from the silent film era. And truthfully, the images here are so strong, that it can be understood without any understanding of the Thai language. I wondered if this was based on a manga, as the film sometimes possesses the look of a fantasy film. "Pheuan... Guu Rak meung waa/Buddy...I love you, man" remains one of my favorite films; this one is very special, and maybe bound for cult status!

I am curious... what is the English translation of the Thai title? I am guessing that "Bangkok Love Story" is not a direct translation. (Thanks!)Pheuan... Guu rak meung waa Thailand (Thai title) Puen Thailand (Thai title) I always enjoy a film that takes me to places I will never personally experience (such as the slum rooftops of Bangkok)and this film does a good job of that. I found the film's melodrama eventually went over the top. But my partner was teared up at the ending, so "to each his own." The production qualities were much better than I expected, and the lead actors have a certain charisma.

I was initially impressed that this was a drama, considering most gay-themed films tend to be either campy comedies or soft-core porn, or, as in the majority of cases, both. This film tries SO hard to be so different, so serious, so relevant and so great that the film itself crumbles under its own weight.The biggest flaw to this film are its two lead characters. The heart of the story is their love for one another. However, that "love" felt completely forced and unnatural. The only way I can rationalize it is that Stockholm Syndrome developed. Really, the increasing attempts at showing how much these two characters love each other actually made me despise them even more. The characters just became whiny and pathetic and I couldn't sympathize with them. If I could the rest of the film may have been bearable...The second flaw to the film is melodrama overload. This is where the film becomes extremely pretentious. This director seems to be the type who thinks that piling on over-the-top drama nonstop is going to get the audience sobbing and love and praise the film. Much like with the relationship between the leads, the scenarios were contrived, forced and so melodramatic that its just annoying. It's not necessary, it makes no sense. With two already obnoxious lead characters, obnoxious melodrama doesn't make you sympathize with them. It makes you flabbergasted and makes you want to yell at the screen for the stupidity of the characters for being so, well, stupidly and unnaturally.The cinematography however was absolutely stunning, particularly the cloud/sky and weather shots. But I thought the Wong Kar-Wai-esquire saturated coloring was unnecessary and added more to the pretentious-level. The two lead actors were initially hot, but by mid-film any sex appeal vanished.Overall, the film is like that one person always desperate for attention so they constantly concoct completely over-the-top stories in which you know is a total fabrication in a lame attempt to get some attention. Probably best if you just watch it on free television on mute.