The secret of 'Pee Mak's' success lies with the worms

Guess which part of the movie got us? Some of you ladies may be surprised, but it’s when the hero, Pee Mak, smilingly picks up the worm, puts it in his mouth, starts chewing slowly and pretends it’s the most delicious thing in the world. It wasn’t the Ferris wheel scene or the part when she says, “Sorry, Pee Mak, but you can’t get to die first anymore.”

Men do what Pee Mak did in that scene. Making women proud of their cooking – no matter what, I must add – is our way of expressing love. It’s our romantic expertise, if you will. That Oscar-winning, worm-eating scene was a masterstroke. It helped Pee Mak sweep aside the other epic film of the moment “Khu Kam”, in which, no matter how touching the storyline, the hero is a bit too gung-ho for our liking.

Of course, we men want to be like the character Kobori in “Khu Kam”. I mean, who wouldn’t want to carry their loved one to safety while escaping an aerial bombardment? But while Kobori is probably who we want to be, Pee Mak is who we are.

Most weekly news magazines have put both Kobori and Pee Mak on the covers. Headlines suggest that the unconventional telling of Thailand’s most popular ghost story has put a check on the remake of great writer Thommayanti’s most famous work. I haven’t read their analyses, but here’s my take: people enter the theatres already knowing how much Kobori loves Angsumalin, but little has been conjured up about Pee Mak and his feelings before.

The two movies are two great love stories, both featuring forbidden relationships. The difference is that “Pee Mak” is telling something “for the first time”. Old “Mae Nak” movies made people cry for her, but this one makes viewers cry for both of them, just like “Khu Kam” films always do for Kobori and Angsumalin.

Some have criticised “Pee Mak” for its ending, but I praise the filmmakers for their courage. After all, this must be the ending that Mae Nak, if her ghost did exist, would have preferred the most. If not, what was her motive for coming back from death and disguising herself as a human?

Her story has been told and retold but all the other films were often associated with violence, demonic jealousy and her ghost ending up at the bottom of the river. There have been Mae Nak comedy films, but in most of them her husband joins the villagers as they run away from her.

In “Pee Mak”, the “run” is minimal, timed to perfection and participated in by four of the funniest characters I have seen on Thai screens. The four friends of Pee Mak are another reason why “Khu Kam” has not become as big a hit as expected. Kobori’s solemn subordinates don’t stand a chance against Pee Mak’s hilarious friends.

But my gut feelings when analyzing “Pee Mak” and “Khu Kam” remain with the worms and the bombs. What else can beat Nadech Kugimiya, who plays Kobori, and the most romantic wartime story ever written by a Thai writer? Only the worm scene can do that. Past Mae Nak films had the husband eat them but in a different context. We laughed then, but we cry now.

One day a director may take “Khu Kam” and turn it into a romantic comedy. That is possible, especially if you believe that art has no boundaries. The makers of “Pee Mak” have put modern slang, an amusement park and liquor-shop “pretties” into a period Thai movie, and that is artistic courage not seen very often. Some may hate those gags, but that’s the whole point. 

We have seen a lot of movies that show love can overcome just about anything. But rarely have we been shown in such a funny, romantic and yet convincing manner what a man does when his worst fear (a ghost) also happens to be his best love. So girls, next time your man “seems” to enjoy your cooking, hold him tight.

Writer’s note (again): “Pee Mak” with English subtitles may come in handy for any foreign couple who may want to watch it, whether she cooks or not.