In love's arms

Published on February 21, 2008

It's human nature to feel dissatisfied with one's lot in life. Sometimes this takes the form of a physical imperfection, at others it's in the way we relate to people. In the movie world, we often watch transfixed as a slim heroine struggles to escape from a fat body or a troubled protagonist goes off on a quest to find his inner self.

Khwan, the hero of Kongdet Jaturanrasami's latest film, "Kod" ("Handle Me With Care"), has to deal with more than just excess weight or personal problems. He was born with three arms, and while that gives him some advantages, most of the time he just feels like a freak.

"It's very much Kongdet style, isn't it?" laughs the director when asked why he chose to give his protagonist three upper limbs.

"The idea just came to me and I start sketching the character. It stuck.

"There is a positive side to having three arms. It means you can get things done faster. On the negative side though, you tend to draw insults from people."

And that's how it is for Khwan played by Kiatkamol "Tui AF3" Lata whose life takes a turn for the worse when his girlfriend dumps him and the guy who has always made his three-sleeved shirts suddenly dies. He decides to leave his hometown for the first time and hitch to Bangkok to have his extra arm removed. On the way, he helps shake off some men who are harassing her and the two strike up a friendship.

"We're all dissatisfied at some time or other but can we get rid of our frustrations and live happily ever after? I don't believe that our lives depend on what we have or don't have; happiness comes from having someone beside us," says the 36-year-old director.

Kongdet uses Na's character as the foil for Khwan's problems. Burdened with an ample bosom, which tends to earn her unwanted attention, Na has learned to live with her attributes.

Not only is Supaksorn perfect physically for the role but, says Kongdet, he found her personality and attitude also matched the part.

"I was lucky to find her. I didn't want to use a new actress because the audience would have focused on her body instead of the story," he says.

Kongdet describes "Kod" as a light-hearted road movie, adding that it's nothing like his romantic dramas "The Letter" and "Me ... Myself" and is definitely less depressing than "Cherm" ("Midnight My Love").

Nor are there any strange surrealistic scenes, he insists, such as the gothic hardcore room of Ai Noom Phalung Ma (Young Stallion) in "Sayew", his directorial debut with high-school friend Kiat Songsanan, or the outer-space motel room in "Cherm", to where the taxi driver is lured by an ageing gay guy.

Even his observations on society, so prevalent in his earlier films, have been lost to the cutting room floor.

"Some people saw the points I was trying to make and others didn't. It's not important. The film is about a man with three arms, which should say something about how we regard other people in this day and age. But I've cut a lot of the footage because it was dragging the story off track," he says.

Kongdet admits that he'd love to make a movie with a truly social theme "rather like MC Chatrichalerm Yukol's old films". But he's well aware that the current market doesn't have room for features with heavy topics. "The best I can hope for is to use individual characters to observe society," he says.

This is his first film with GTH after leaving Prachya Pinkaew's Baa-Rae-Ewe production company, but old habits die hard and he delighted his new bosses by bringing in his new movie early and within budget.

"GTH was amazed when we wrapped ahead of schedule. That saved them money. But I'm used to working with limitations so it wasn't hard at all."

The director says that he's both surprised and pleased at the enthusiasm with which GTH has greeted the final product, although he was a little nervous at the comments made by studio executives during the viewing of the rough cut.

"We had a flood of feedback at the preview. It was a very important time for me. I needed to feel secure about myself. I had to go back and remember why I wanted to do this film. But at the same time, I welcomed some of the comments," he says.

Although he has worked as a scriptwriter for hire and raises no objections when the director changes his screenplays, he admits it's very different when he's both writing and directing his own movie.

"Being hired to write is a job. You do it to survive and you don't worry when the director makes changes because that's the way it works. But making my own film is the same as when I'm making music with my band See Tao Ther. It's a personal thing and I do it with a passion. It makes me feel as though I am really alive," he says.

"Kod" ("Handle Me With Care") opens in theatres today.

Parinyaporn Pajee

The Nation