Made-for-TV Pen-ek just not quite as exciting
Usually when Pen-ek Ratanaruang makes a new movie, the buzz gets loud among cinephiles and festival programmers. This time, not so much - because the movie was made for television.
After all the censorship hassles over his political documentary “Paradoxocracy”, Pen-ek opted for something different – a film for TrueVisions. It’s the 90-minute romantic comedy-drama “Raeng Dueng Dood” (“The Life of Gravity”) – already aired but still around – and features the stars of Pen-ek’s “Headshot”, Cris Horwang and Peter Nopachai Chaiyanam. It didn’t cost a lot and took just 10 days to shoot at the Navy base in Sattahip. Obviously the location still has enough sand to look like a beach since Cris and Peter are supposed to be on a desert island.
Peter prepared for the castaway role by shedding weight, growing a beard and getting a tan. Pen-ek has praised Cris too for nailing the gist of her character – a woman stranded on an island with a guy she assumes to be her boyfriend.
However, since the movie wasn’t being shown in theatres, the director wasn’t what you’d call bubbling over with enthusiasm. “The Life of Gravity” premiered on TrueVisions Channel 45, the Thaifilm Channel, on Valentine’s Day. If you missed that chance, it reruns on Saturday at 10.10pm and on Sunday at 4pm and 7.50pm over on TrueAsian HD 113. You shouldn’t miss it – it’s probably the easiest movie to understand he’s ever going to make.
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God’s getting tired
If you haven’t got tickets yet to see Eric Clapton on his return to Bangkok on Sunday, there is extra enticement – he’s hinted that this could be his final world tour, and it doesn’t sound like a promotional gimmick. At a recent sold-out show in Japan, the English guitar god indicated that he’s getting a little too old for traipsing around the planet like this. At 68, Old Slowhand is surely getting a little slower in the hands. He says he’d prefer to be spending more time with his family in cosy retirement.
In the booklet they gave fans at the Japan concert, Clapton had written, “Hi, everyone, and welcome. It’s good to be back! It’s been a long old road, sometimes hard, mostly joyful, but it’s taken its toll, so this is the first of several probable farewell tours I will be doing around the world over the next few years. The idea is to come and visit you, to say thank you for all your support, and maybe also to say goodbye, on the off chance that may not be able to come back again. Of course I hope I will return, but I have to be realistic in the knowledge that I am not getting any younger.”
Clapton said he doesn’t know how long he can keep doing this stuff – his fingers are all bent out of shape from all that string bending. See for yourself at “Eric Clapton Live in Bangkok 2014” at 8pm on Sunday at Impact Arena. If he attempts an electric version of “Layla”, keep your own fingers crossed that his don’t fall off in mid-solo.
