In April the Following Year
. . . There Was a Fire
Director: Wichanon Somunjarn
Year: 2012
Rating: 5.5
Country: Thailand
In sort of a preamble before the opening credits begin, Nuhm is walking down
a street in Bangkok when he is stopped by a member of a film crew and asked
to hold up for a minute as they shoot a scene. They get to talking as they
are both from the northeast of Thailand and Nuhm asks him what the film is.
An indie he is answered. What's that? A low budget film. Oh, like Uncle Boonmee
Who Can Recall his Past Lives (referencing a film by Thailand's most famous
Indie director, Apichatpong Weerasethakul). Yes. Where will I be able to
see it? In a film festival is the response. And what will it be called? In
April the Following Year, There was a Fire.
The director of this film Wichanon Somunjarn touches on a few things there.
Thailand for the most part crunches out commercial films - broad comedies,
horrors, teen romances and such. Very little of it any more has legs that
travel outside of the country. But there is a small independent group of
filmmakers who direct artistic low budget films that rarely see the light
of day except in foreign film festivals. This one was entered into a few
festivals but if it even got a release in Thailand I am sure it was a very
brief one. There are very few films these past few years in which festivals
and home popularity intersect. Which is rather sad because there was a period
in the early 2000's when Thailand was making some amazing films that received
a lot of International attention - but most of them crashed and died at the
box office in Thailand and that innovative film scene just vanished.
This opening scene also indicates in a small way how this film fluctuates
between the film narrative and reality - mixing them up so that the viewer
is never really sure what is happening. In one scene Nuhm is being romantic
over dinner with a long ago flame when suddenly the director interrupts with
a "cut" and the film switches to another scene. The director also brings
on his real-life father and brother (which I know only by reading about the
film) to talk about the past - the brother about being attacked by a jellyfish
(which explains an early mysterious scene), the father about Wichanon dropping
out of college to pursue film. In the background an announcer on the radio
tells of clashes between the government and Red Shirts from around the time
of this film.
The plot such as it is has Nuhm after losing his job in Bangkok going home
to the city of Khon Kaen - up north where the director comes from (as does
Apichatpong). He clearly hasn't been back home for a while and his interactions
with his father and friends is awkward and stilted - as if there is now a
gulf between them because of his time in Bangkok. But there really is no
narrative here - it feels more like a floating personal journey of the director
playing things out in his mind. There are some lovely moments that don't
seem to connect at all like the man in the boat rowing up a canal as a narrator
tells of a Thai folk tale. The film takes its time like a slowly unreeling
dream - it follows characters for long walks, watches a stable helper wash
down a horse for minutes, motorcycling around town - all creating a desultory
mood - but it never really pays off - it just ends and at least I wasn't
clear what the director was aiming for. The director has not been able to
make another feature film as far as I can tell. Which is usually the fate
of indie directors in Thailand.
