Joe is due for more Cannes glory, but let's talk about dresses

IN ONE OF those acute little ironies of life, Soopsip’s wire services haven’t come up with a single image of Apichatpong “Joe” Weerasethakul, the all-time Thai champion of the Cannes Film Festival, attending this year’s edition with “Cemetery of Splendour” – and yet we can have any number of shots of actress Araya “Chompoo” A Hargate, who’s there once again not strictly for cinema’s sake but as a presenter of l’Oreal beauty products.

The pictures of Chompoo are gorgeous, to be fair, and l’Oreal is after all one of the festival’s big sponsors, but frankly any shot of Joe at the world’s most prestigious movie event would be of much more interest, especially since “Cemetery” has drawn great reviews as well as getting a 10-minute standing ovation, and we’re excited to find out whether it will win any awards when the announcements are made in France today. 

Joe’s “Cemetery” was placed in the festival’s Un Certain Regard category rather than the main competition, which disappointed many fans. But that’s where he first earned world renown on his initial trip to Cannes in 2002, when “Blissfully Yours”, snatched the top prize. Then in 2010 Joe’s “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives” won the Palme d’Or, the biggest prize of them all.

This is all very nice for most Thais, who are proud of Joe but find his movies a little “difficult” to comprehend, whereas Chompoo gets their motors running with just a flip of her hair. This is her third consecutive year attending the festival at the behest of l’Oreal Thailand, and this week she’s been thoroughly photographed on the red carpet at two premieres, the screenings of “Sicario” on Tuesday and of “Youth” on Wednesday. (No, neither one is a Thai film.)

So, okay, let’s talk about Chompoo. 

First she was wearing an Ashi gown, all sorts of delicate embroidery and feathers decorating the hemline. Then she had on a bright Giambattista Valli number that was just as ornate with its ruffled tiers. The Ashi put her among the Best Dressed finalists at RedCarpet-FashionAwards.com, and its registered members have her in the lead at this point in their opinion poll. Huh.

Chompoo only just got married on May 6 and hasn’t had time yet for a honeymoon. She’d been shooting TV commercials in the week before she flew off to the French Rivera. As a result, she told an interviewer at Suvarnabhumi Airport, she hadn’t been able to prepare much for Cannes. Plus, she and new hubby Visarut “Nott” Rangsripitpat haven’t even been able to pool their living arrangements yet because they’re so busy clearing up their respective work commitments.

Well, Chompoo left the news folks short of copy, so they chased down Nott and asked him what he thought of her Cannes outfits. Absolutely gorgeous, he said. Okay, but what about the widely shared opinion that her wedding gown was way better than anything she’s worn at Cannes? Nott said a wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime event, so of course his wife was going to look her best for that. And anyway it’s impossible to compare the two events. 

But, yes, he promised, they’re going to have their honeymoon in July.