GTH power-stroking to success with thriller "The Swimmers"

The thriller is targeted at urban teens, though, so, really, how much of a gamble could it have been?

Director Sophon “Jim” Sakdaphisit brought his best mojo, and he’s no stranger to scary movies, having helmed the spooky “Laddaland” and “Coming Soon” and written the GTH horror hits “Shutter” and “Alone”. 

And the cast members, like Juthawut “March” Pattarakamphon and Thonphop “Tor” Lirattanakhachon, all have their own teenage fan bases. So “The Swimmers” has the golden mix and the studio fully expects to reap Bt100 million before the picture fades from theatres. 

Jim spent more than a year writing the script, and that was just the start of his ordeal. “Production was very tough, especially the scenes in the water. We were shooting in Bangkok while the city was recording its lowest temperature in 10 years.”

The lead actors, March, Tor and Supassara “Kow” Thanachart, prepared for two months, practising swimming and diving so they’d look more like Ian “The Thorpedo” Thorpe than first-timers. “Sometimes we spent two days on a single scene,” Jim says. “I’m really impressed by the determination of the three young stars. Nobody complained. We all shared the same goal – to make it our best work.

“I’m open to criticism as the director, but I hope my film does its duty by inspiring filmgoers to think more about the content after they’ve watched it,” says Jim. A movie doesn’t necessarily have to be entertaining, he says. His real goal with this one is to convey a message and get folks mulling it over.

 

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You remember Abhisit?

Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva is feeling “free” these days, having last Thursday finally shaken loose of the sling that was securing the collarbone he broke in March in a fall at home. 

Abhisit told a horde of Nation Multimedia Group reporters that it took a long time to heal and required two operations.

“Despite being a doctor’s son, I don’t like staying in hospital at all,” he chuckled. “I was discharged the day after the operation!” 

Asked what he could possibly be doing with all his spare time now that the military is running the country, Abhisit said he recently visited his former right-hand man, Suthep Thaugsuban, the deputy premier who quit the party to lead the anti-government protests and somehow ended up as a monk in his home province of Surat Thani. 

“Phra Suthep has lost a lot of weight,” his old buddy reported. “I was told he only eats once a day. But it looks like he’s enjoying the monkhood and will remain in the robes for quite some time.”

Abhisit said he talked to Phra Suthep about their pending court case, in which they’re charged with ordering the military assault that killed scores of red-shirt demonstrators.

He wouldn’t say any more, so let’s just hope he didn’t tell Suthep anything that might make him leave the monkhood sooner than planned.