‘Friday Saturday Sunday’: Thai student film at Osaka Asian Film Festival

Two of the nominated films are already well-known: “4 Kings” by director Puttipong Nakthong tells the story of wars between vocational students in the '90s, and “OMG” by director Thitipong Kerdtongtawee, a romantic drama of a man who keeps falling in love with women who are already taken.

The other two are lesser known but carry the same level of quality: “You & Me & Me” by twin directors Wanweaw & Weawwan Hongvivatana, is about the love triangle between a man and two win sisters. The film just premiered on February 9.

The other is “Friday Saturday Sunday” by new director Pobmek Jullakarin, who recently graduated from Faculty of Communication Arts, Chulalongkorn University.

Winner of the Digital Forum Award at the 26th Thai Short Film & Video Festival held last year by the Thai Film Archive and Thai Film Foundation, “Friday Saturday Sunday” portrays problems faced by Thai teenagers during the turning point of their life.

The Question

The plot is based on a simple question that you will find on any form: Who do you choose as your emergency contact? The film asks will it be your parents, boyfriend or close friend?

“The answer for our teenage protagonist ‘Ning’ might not be as simple as you think,” the director said, adding that this question also makes Ning doubt her relationship with each person who is close to her.

Ning was reluctant to put her parents’ names on the emergency contact list, as this “emergency” could mean something bad or embarrassing that she does not want her parents to know.

She was also not sure about putting her boyfriend’s name, as he may not be able to help her in all situations.

The film chronicles the events over three days before Ning must leave home to attend college in Bangkok. Each passing day shows the relationship with her close friend “Pan” who shares her love for films, her boyfriend who is also leaving for the same college but will be in a different faculty, and her parents, who appear to be guarding a family secret.

Pobmek did not hide the fact that this movie was inspired by the works of South Korean director Hong Sang-soo both in terms of taste and direction. Most of Hong’s movies are about lovers’ relationships portrayed via slow moving images with low camera movement and intermittent zooming in and out, while the film progresses mainly by conversational dialogue.

Pobmek believes this technique is able to convey the character’s complex emotions without manipulating the viewers. He also loves that most of Hong’s films star Kim Min-hee, his real-life lover.

The director’s tribute to his idol were displayed in “Friday Saturday Sunday” via the conversations between Ning and Pan. The two close friends are seen playfully yet extensively exchanging their reviews of several iconic films, including those made by Hong and Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill Volume 2”.

One of “Friday Saturday Sunday’s” charms is Ning’s clumsiness, which contradicts her selfishness, and makes the viewer want to smack her instead of sympathising with her.

During the film, we learn that some of Ning’s problems are caused by her own actions, like forcing her boyfriend to keep a promise he made without caring about him and his life changes.

At home, Ning feels oppressed by her parents, who are apparently keeping things from her, making her feel powerless and unable to deal with those around her. This ultimately makes her act out and make a fool of herself in the viewers’ eyes. In reality though, Ning is only facing the same challenges as other teenagers do during this turning point in their lives.

 

No distance left to run

“Friday Saturday Sunday” was first screened at the Kangjor 29 Film Festival at Bangkok’s Lido Cinema. The event featured the screening of over 20 films made by graduating students of Faculty of Communication Arts, Chulalongkorn University.

The theme of Kangjor 29 was to portray the uncertainty of new graduates’ future as they get ready to leave university and become full-time adults at a time when the world faces big uncertainties in terms of the economy, politics and the global pandemic.

Film students were urged to dig deep into their feelings in response to the society’s expectations to see them standing on their own two feet. As a result, some films portray teenagers’ sadness and melancholy, as if they were journeying through a dark tunnel with no sight of light at the end.

“Friday Saturday Sunday” was made along this very theme, but focused on portraying an introduction to the problems of life that teenagers face as they grow up.

The last scene shows Ning getting on a van leaving for Bangkok with her boyfriend chasing from a distance. She quietly closes the window blinds, as she tries to figure out how to deal with her problems.

The film ends without offering any answers, solutions or even an exit – a perfect reflection of the state of mind of most modern teenagers are desperately looking for answers, solutions and exits.