FILMS I SAW ON MONDAY 23 JULY 2007
1.CRY IN SILENCE (2006, J. G. Biggs, A+++++++++++++++)
This is my most favorite film of 2007 so far.
http://www.myspace.com/pleureensilence
http://www.myspace.com/jgbiggs
2.THE MARK OF CAIN (2007, Marc Munden, A+)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0837800/
3.EXILED (2006, Johnnie To, A)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0796212/
4.DONSOL (2006, Adolfo Alix Jr., Philippines, A)
5.PERFECT STRANGER (2007, James Foley, A-)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457433/
–I think the best film in the festival that I have seen so far might be OUR DAILY BREAD, but it is not my most favorite because it does not make me feel very personally involved. My most favorite films are usually the ones that I feel very personally involved, such as CRY IN SILENCE which makes me think about the life of my friend (I pray every day that the parents of my friend should get divorced soon. I hate my friend’s father very very much.), A WANDERING BRIDE which makes me think about some painful experiences, THE BIRD HOUSE which makes me think about my life, and THE MARK OF CAIN which makes me think about my guilt.
Limitless Cinema in Broken English 
thank you ! I love your comments. It’s an honor to have a CRY IN SILENCE fan such as you.
lots of love from France. J.G BIGGS & entire CRY IN SILENCE crew
Comment by J.G BIGGS — July 29, 2007 @ 4:19 pm
I’m very glad to know that you have read my comment. I truly love your film, and I hope your film will be more and more famous from now on and be shown in many film festivals. I want the world to see this film.
One thing that I like about this film is that the girl is not an innocent victim in the end. That makes the film more complex, not just pure evil versus pure innocence. I think that if I were in her place, I would not do it. I might just run away from home. But if I were the jury in her case, I would judge her “not guilty”. I think that what the girl did in the end really makes me “think” about the film afterwards. If the girl is just an innocent victim and the film ends with the triumph of pure innocence, this film would not make me think as much as this. I like that the film makes me feel “ambiguous” about what the girl did. Films which make me feel “ambiguous” tend to stay in my memory for a long time.
Comment by celinejulie — July 30, 2007 @ 11:06 am
ดู CRY IN SILENCE แล้ว
ทำให้นึกถึงครึ่งแรกของ FULL METAL JACKET ของ STANLEY KUBRICK ขึ้นมาด้วย
โดยเฉพาะประเด็นเกี่ยวกับอำนาจเบ็ดเสร็จนิยม
และการกลายร่างของผู้ถูกกระทำให้เป็นผู้กระทำความรุนแรงเสียเอง
ตอนจบของ CRY IN SILENCE
กับตอนจบของครึ่งแรกของ FULL METAL JACKET
ให้ความรู้สึกที่คล้ายคลึงกันมาก
คือมีทั้งความสะใจ ความตกใจ และความหดหู่
ประดังประเดเข้ามาในเซลล์สมองจนเกินพรรณนา
จนแทบไม่รู้ว่าเราจะใช้กฎเกณฑ์อะไร
มาตัดสินความถูกต้องชอบธรรมในเนื้อเรื่องที่เห็นอยู่ตรงหน้าดี
อย่างไรก็ดี การได้ชม CRY IN SILENCE
นอกจากจะสร้างความตระหนักในปัญหาความรุนแรงและอำนาจเบ็ดเสร็จนิยมดังกล่าวแล้ว
หนังเรื่องนี้ยังช่วยปลดเปลื้องความทุกข์ต่างๆ ในชีวิตของผม
ให้มลายหายไปในพริบตาราวกับว่าไม่เคยเกิดขึ้นมาก่อน
เพราะไม่น่าเชื่อว่าความทุกข์ที่เราเผชิญมาในชีวิตประจำวันนั้น
แทบจะเทียบไม่ได้เลยกับความทุกข์ระทมของตัวละครในหนัง
ที่ราวกับว่าเธอกำลังได้รับโทษทัณฑ์จากโคตรขุมนรกที่ใดสักแห่งหนึ่ง
ที่เราไม่เคยรู้มาก่อนว่ามีอยู่จริง
จนทำให้ความทุกข์ที่ผมได้รับในชีวิตประจำวัน
กลายเป็นเสมือนของขวัญจากพระเจ้าไปเลย
ต้องขอขอบคุณคุณ J.G.BIGGS
ที่ได้สร้างหนังที่ทั้งเต็มเปี่ยมไปด้วยพลังในการเล่าเรื่อง
และพลังในการกระตุ้นให้ผู้คนหันกลับมาทบทวนถึงปัญหาความรุนแรงที่เกิดขึ้นกับโลกของเรา
อย่างน้อยๆ ก็เป็นจุดเริ่มต้นของสิ่งดีๆ อีกหลายอย่างที่จะตามมา
หลังจากหนังเรื่องนี้ได้ถูกออกฉายในวงกว้างมากขึ้นเรื่อยๆ
Comment by black forest — August 6, 2007 @ 10:27 pm
Thank you very much for your comment, Black Forest.
–Black Forest, do you remember ANGEL’S FALL (2005, Semih Kaplanoglu, Turkey, A++++++++++), a film which you love very much? I just knew that Kaplanoglu has a new film called EGG (2007), which is very interesting. EGG is described as minimalist, metaphysical, and philosophical.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1021004/
I just knew about EGG from UNSPOKEN CINEMA’S BLOG:
http://unspokencinema.blogspot.com/2006/10/chronology.html
–I haven’t seen FULL METAL JACKET, but after seeing CRY IN SILENCE, I thought about a French film called I FOR ICARUS (1979, Henri Verneuil, A+). In this film, the protagonist is told about an experiment on human behaviors. The volunteers for this experiment are divided into two groups. One group of volunteers will be sitting on a chair and will be hurt by a little electricity running through the chair. The other group of volunteers will control the volume of the electricity used in hurting the ones on the chair. The experiment boss will give an order to the electricity controller to gradually increase the volume of the electricity, while the volunteer on the chair will start begging, crying, screaming, because the pain is increasing to an unbearable degree.
However, the volunteers on the chair are the fake ones. The real volunteers who control the electricity don’t know this fact. The real volunteers think they are really hurting someone on the chair. The purpose of this experiment is to observe how willing people are in accepting the orders from the tyrant. Different people react differently. Some real volunteers keep on doing what the experiment boss tells them. They keep on increasing the volume of the electricity and don’t care how painful others people will be. But other real volunteers don’t tolerate unjustified orders. When these volunteers see that what they do can hurt other volunteers, they stop doing it. They tell the experiment boss, “No, I won’t do it.” These people are the ones who are ready and willing to stand up against tyranny.
Why does CRY IN SILENCE make me think about I FOR ICARUS? It is because one sister in CRY IN SILENCE reminds me of a kind of volunteers in I FOR ICARUS—the kind of volunteers, or citizens, who are willing to obey orders, even if the orders are unjustified, cruel, inhuman, or come from tyrants. Unfortunately, many people in Thailand seem to behave like this sister in CRY IN SILENCE.
–I just noticed that Mylene Jampanoi, the leading actress of VALLEY OF FLOWERS (2006, Pan Nalin, A-/B+), also plays a supporting role in CRY IN SILENCE. She plays the eldest sister.
–CRY IN SILENCE also reminds me of other French films which show intense relationships between family members. So I recommend that CRY IN SILENCE be shown with the following French films:
1.SOUND AND FURY (1988, Jean-Claude Brisseau, A+)
2.MON FILS A MOI (2006, Martial Fougeron, A+)
3.FEAR, LITTLE HUNTER (2004, Laurent Achard, A+)
This is a short film.
4.THE DEVILS (2002, Christophe Ruggia, A+)
5.I STAND ALONE (1998, Gaspar Noe, A)
–I just chose CRY IN SILENCE to be my most favorite film for July 2007. To choose my most favorite film for July was very difficult, because I saw many great films in July, and there are at least four films I saw in July which I love wholeheartedly. These four films are:
1.CRY IN SILENCE
2.KWAM LUKLUN NAI NGAN RUENREANG (AN INCONVENIENCE IN A HAPPY PARTY) (2007, Prap Boonpan, A+)
3.BERLIN – EXERCISES IN NINE PARTS: DREAMING UNDERWATER OF THINGS AFAR (1975, Rebecca Horn, A+)
4.VIDEO 50 (1978, Robert Wilson, A+)
An excerpt from VIDEO 50 can be watched here:
http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/artist/wilson/biography/video/1/
It is hard for me to choose my most favorite among these four films. All of them are very great and shouldn’t be compared to one another. From an aesthetic viewpoint, Rebecca Horn’s film and Robert Wilson’s film might be more interesting than the other two films. When comparing between these two video arts, Rebecca Horn’s film made me feel more ecstatic while watching it, but Robert Wilson’s film sticks in my mind longer than Horn’s film. I can’t forget the image of a chair hanging in the sky and the duck scene in VIDEO 50.
AN INCONVENIENCE IN A HAPPY PARTY might be one of the best Thai films and one of the best political films I have ever seen. This film seems to understand the problems of Thailand very, very well, and it shows me how to change my perspective, how to think differently, and how to improve myself as a member in society.
To choose my most favorite film among these four films is like to choose between the great artists, someone who really understands the country and the people, and someone who understands my soul. So in the end I choose someone who understands my soul. “CRY IN SILENCE” IS THE FILM WHICH UNDERSTANDS MY SOUL.
Comment by celinejulie — August 7, 2007 @ 9:00 pm