Thai high-school students were sent into a tizzy last year when the Education Ministry's newly introduced marking system for the university entrance exams led to erroneous scores being posted on the Internet.

Suwikrom "Per" Amaranand, a student featured in GTH's new documentary "Final Score Tam Tid Cheewit Dek Ent" ("Final Score"), was among those affected by the blunder.

Yet the film, which opens on February 1, doesn't take the Education Ministry to task for sending students and their parents into a spin with A-Net and O-Net score evaluations that made no sense.

But perhaps that's not surprising. This is a GTH production after all, and "Final Score" is bathed in that feel-good glow for which the studio is renowned.

The documentary follows Per, a Mattayom 6 student at Suan Kularb School, from the start of May 2005 until he passes his university entrance exams.

After class Per, like many other students, takes private tutoring, then hangs out with friends before heading home. He's confused about his future, suffers through an adolescent crush, but manages to get through the year and the exam.

The film also depicts Per's classmates, including Big Show, a shy, overweight boy, who feels the pinch at home when his siblings do well in engineering. His family hopes that he will follow in their shoes but his grades aren't high enough.

Then there's Boat, an avid collector of fish who dreams of studying at the Fisheries Faculty but opts for accounting to please his father, and Lung, a happy-go-lucky youngster who isn't serious about his exam and appears untroubled when he gets a bad grade.

And while the documentary covers the confusion, expectations and depression that every student faces in the run-up to the dreaded entrance exams, it fails to extract much in the way of opinions from the youngsters, focusing instead on their overall situation and ending when Per enters university.

"We have more footage, but decided to delete it from the final version because it changes the direction of the story.

"Our decision also has to do with the company's marketing model. The studio didn't want the film to be too controversial," explains rookie director Soraya Nakhasuwan.

GTH's Jira Malikool came up with the idea of making a film about high-school students several years back.

"I was happy when I was in Mattayom 6. It's a great time but suddenly you're 17 and you have responsibilities," he says. "That's when you come to realise that the people around you expect you to pass that exam and go on to study at a good university.

"The entrance exam is too much of a harsh reality to turn into a romantic film," he explains.

Jira chose Soraya after being impressed with her work as an assistant director on his film "Maha Lai Muang Rae" ("The Tin Mine").

"She's very tough and has a special character. You feel you can trust her with your secrets."

Jira and Soraya started casting around for subjects at tutor schools in the Siam Square area in February 2005. They looked for youngsters with enough strength of character to survive being followed around by a camera team for a whole year.

From 100 potential candidates, they narrowed the search to 10 finalists and followed each for a day, interviewing them about their personal lives, family and their aspirations.

"I didn't want a student with particularly good grades or a kid who was always skipping school," says the director.

They finally settled on Suwikrom, whose nickname Per is short for Perfect.

"He's an interesting boy. He's smart too, and also has some inner conflicts."

Although Per wasn't afraid of the camera, he was depressed about his studies.

"I was really worried I wouldn't pass the exam. It would be have been humiliating to let everyone see my failure on screen," says the young man, who is now attending university.

Viewers will be impressed with Per's relationship with his mother.

While they argue frequently during the 120-minutes of the documentary, there is plenty of love and laughter.

"He looks like a rebel, but he respects his mum. They may disagree about everything, but they care for each other," says the director.

It was a tough year for the five-person crew who would head to Per's home in the early morning, then try and be invisible while remaining alert to whatever might happen next.

"It was boring because their lives are so simple. But it was important to be vigilant. In a documentary, you can't say cut and shoot again," says the director.

"But a simple life is good. That final year of high school is crucial. It's a time of self-discovery. There's pressure from every direction, as kids try to meet their parents' expectations and work out what they want for their future."

Soraya brushes away concerns that moviegoers may find "Final Score" light viewing compared to successful TV documentaries like "Khon Khon Khon" and "Lum Dum" ("Black Hole").

"People only understand the limited meaning of a documentary. Many of today's documentaries no longer stick to the facts. They are turned into a mocu-mentaries or docu-dramas," says Soraya.

The movie doesn't attempt to interview the kids but uses music to keep the tone light.

"Filmmakers often use interviews to manipulate attitudes. Questions are asked from the filmmaker's point of view so the answers can't be unconditional. That's why I prefer not to use that technique," says Soraya.

She also denies that any of the shots in the film are posed.

"It's the way we worked. Every day we planned and guessed what they would do next. We were always a step ahead of our subjects and that helped us catch the important moments," she says.

"Final Score" opens on February 1 at cinemas nationwide.

Parinyaporn Pajee

 The Nation