Love in a hot climate

 “It’s the youngest version of ‘Khoo Kam’ that’s ever been made,” says filmmaker Kittikorn “Leo” Liawsirikul, commenting on the latest remake of the tragic wartime romance between a Thai woman and a Japanese soldier.

 Starring heartthrob Nadech Kugimiya as Kobori and new actress Oranate “Richy” D Caballes as Angsumalin, the story is set during World War II when the Japanese army occupied Thailand on their way to conquer Burma. Japanese soldier Kobori falls for Angsumalin and she for him but patriotism wins out and she tries to push him away. 

Kittikorn says from his reading of the novel, it is obvious the two characters are still very young. Angsumalin is around 18 to 19 while Kobori is in his early 20s.

“They are teenagers and teenage romance doesn’t change that much regardless of whether it happened last year or during World War II,” says the director, whose previous films include “Phrang Chompoo” (“Saving Private Tootsie”), “Goal Club” and “May Narok Mauy Yok Lor” (“Bus Lane”).

“Thus the two characters deal with the situation like teenagers rather than as the mature adults who have appeared in earlier adaptations. Angsumalin is a young girl who doesn’t understand her own decisions while Kobori is a young guy who is inept when it comes to relationships.”

Kittikorn has also chosen not to stick to the novel and has spent time creating the two characters in what he believes is a more authentic portrayal.

“We’ve had to make everything more contemporary because we are making an entertaining movie not a documentary,” he says

Nadech’s Kobori is convincing for the simple reason that he speaks both Thai and English with a Japanese accent. Rather than having him come from a noble Tokyo family, the director reinterprets the character and has Kobori hailing from Kansai and speaking Japanese with an Osakan accent. He’s also fixed the grammatical mistake in the key declaration of love that’s created a misunderstanding among Thai readers for decades.

“‘Khoo Kam’ is like a fairy tale to me. People already know the story but watch it anytime it is remade. My version aims to entertain the generation of today so it’s been adapted to suit that generation,” he says.

 

“Khoo Kam” was first published as a serial in a bimonthly magazine back 1965. It has since been through several incarnations, as TV dramas, movies and musicals, but with little variation to the story or the characters.

The latest TV remake, currently airing on Channel 5, owes much of its audience to the popularity of singer/actor Sukrit “Bie” Wisetkaew and Nuengruthai Sophon in the Kobori/Angsumalin roles. It’s a coincidence that two versions are coming out this year but Kittikorn accepts that comparisons are inevitable.

With the TV drama, details have been expanded with the scriptwriter adding more historical context to fill the story. In addition to the romance between the protagonists, the audience can also become fixated on such supporting characters as Angsumalin’s neighbours Ta Pon, Ta Bua or Yai Man or her boyfriend Vanus.

Details are more limited in Kittikorn’s movie but the cast is interesting with members of songs-for-life band Caravan, Surachai Chantimathorn and Mongkon Uthok, playing Ta Pon and Ta Bua while Vanus is played by The Yers’ Nithit Varayanont.

“All the characters are in the film version but their time on screen is brief,” Kittikorn confirms.

Most versions have zoomed in on the first 500 pages of the 1,000-page, focusing on how the couple first meets, the punishment meted out to Ta Pon and Ta Bua after they are caught stealing gas, and the relationship between Angsumalin and Vanus.

“I rather like the last 500 pages as the story involves the politics between the two countries and the writing is wiser and better crafted,” says Kittikorn.

The director has worked particularly hard on the group wedding ceremony, which he says, portrays the relationship between Japan and Thailand perfectly.

The project got off the ground during the 2011 floods when Kittikorn’s wife, the producer Jantima, asked him to do the project. The director had someone in mind to play Kobori but Nadech was put forward by the team and was quick to agree.

“He is a perfect Kobori but he had to get over his dramatic overacting for TV. We had to tune-up for a while but he was willing and that helped the work to go smoothly,” adds the director.

He turned his attention to Richy instead. With the fans of the novel having a delicate old-fashioned Thai woman in their minds, Richy was always going to look too young and her acting had to be without fault.

“She had a tougher time than Nadech though. She’s had to swim, row a boat, speak different languages and do love scenes,” says Kittikorn, adding that he cast her because she was able to devote all her time to the project.

Feedback from the movie’s preview trailer has been positive and Kittikorn feels he has a success on his hands.

“I hope takings don’t go over Bt100 million though,” he says seriously. “If it reaches Bt100 million, it will be just a phenomenon, one of those successes that happen once in a while. It doesn’t bring consistency to the film industry. If we want the industry to be more sustainable, we should have blockbuster movies regularly,” he says.

 

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