Year: 2008
Country: Thailand
Language: Thai
Director: Songyos Sugmakanan
Cast: Charlie Trairat, Sirachuch Chienthaworn, Ungsumalynn Sirapatsakmetha, Focus Jirakul, Ratchu Surajaras, Chutima Teepanat, Thaniya Ummaritchoti, Chantawit Thanasewee, Sora Aoi, Lu Ting Wei
Runtime: 130 min
Trailer:
Seen on Thai Airways flight from London to Bangkok.
There is nothing especially new in Sugmakanan’s 2008 Thai teen romantic comedy – the characters are well familiar, the plot fairly predictable – but the film is surprisingly watchable nonetheless.
Pit Thoem Yai Hua Chai Wa Wun (woefully translated as Hormones in English, but more literally meaning ‘school break, hearts aflutter’) is composed of four sets of youthful love: A pair of high school friends, Pu (Charlie Trairat) and Mai (Sirachuch Chienthaworn), – two peas in a pod – both develop a crush on Nana (Ungsumalynn Sirapatsakmetha), who already graduated and cherishes the attention, even if it means that she is toying with the usually inseparable boys by going out with one on even days, the other on odd. In love tale #2, Oh Lek (Focus Jirakul) is so infatuated with the Taiwanese pop idol Didi (Lu Ting Wei) that she enrols in Mandarin class over the summer in preparation for the star’s first concert in Thailand ever. Then there is a geeky boy, Joe (Ratchu Surajaras), who falls for Cee (Chutima Teepanat), the most gorgeous girl in his year, and tries to sway her with well-intended but a little too enthusiastic declarations of love. She, however, finds it all too overwhelming and tells him that they are only friends. Lastly, Hern (Chantawit Thanasewee) and Nuan (Thaniya Ummaritchoti), two university students, have been together for nearly three years and now face a summer apart – and, with that, temptations that just might break their relationship.
Despite the common and essentially rather superficial storylines, Pit Thoem Yai Hua Chai Wa Wun somehow manages to charm with characters that are real and thus highly relatable as well as plenty of little comic moments (Pu and Mai’s opening scene is plenty amusing, greatly energetic and revealing in terms of their characters). While it is not the sort of film that leaves any lasting impact on viewers, it is entertaining and, for its intended teen audience, it may even be meaningful: the struggles on the screen reflect their own and are developed in a way that even if reality is humourised, its darker sides aren’t sugarcoated away (cruel teasing, quasi-stalking and cheating are all seen). Nor is it all happy-ever-afters as some individuals are left to learn hard lessons. Surprisingly, the most endearing tale turns out to be most unrealistic one: Oh Lek’s fangirling is initially quite annoying as she screams continuously at the sight of a life-sized Didi cutout, but her indefatigable passion – she tapes post-its with Chinese vocabulary all over her house and does not show even an ounce of embarrassment when carrying the cutout figure on a public bus and paying the bus fare for it – soon wins us over, so by the time unlikely dreams do come true, we can really only cheer for her.
Rating: 5.5/10
Overall verdict: Pit Thoem Yai Hua Chai Wa Wun offers nothing particularly new and is rather inconsequential as one romantic comedy among millions, yet is sufficiently entertaining and provides some relatable and, by and large, sensitively told stories for its intended teen audience.
Bonus Bits:
- Aoi is played by the Japanese adult video actress Sora Aoi. With the film being aimed at teenagers, her name was kept off all the promotional materials for this very reason.
- Apparently Japanese females are seen as easy women in Thai culture and feature in much porn. The casting of a busty Japanese AV actress in the role of the ‘seductress’ certainly reinforces this stereotype.
- The film, which was the third-highest grossing Thai production at the local box office in 2008, was later adapted into a TV series.
- Focus Jirakul won a number of acting awards in Thailand for her turn as fangirl Oh Lek, including at the 18th Thai National Film Awards, the 17th Bangkok Critics Assembly Awards and the 6th Hamburger Awards. Deservedly, I would say.
- I was totally cheering for Pu and Mai (true soulmates)… not that I thought there was any chance for a Thai teen film to go into that direction! Oh well, nothing beats bromance. 🙂
- Alternative reviews: Something to Sing about, One Metal, Wise Kwai’s Thai Film Journal.
Image Gallery:
Two peas in a pod and their object of affection (Pu, Mai, Nana):
Total dedication: Oh Lek and her cutout Didi.
The belle and the geek (Joe and Cee):
Summer of temptation (Hern and Nuan):
Pleasantly surprised to see you picking this film up to review! I remember watching this in a cinema here in Thailand and really felt it was a complete rip-off of Love Actually. It was enjoyable but it just doesn’t have a lot of substance at all.
Are you in Thailand?
Well, I watched it on the plane to Thailand, I don’t think I would have otherwise ever come across it to begin with. Plus, on planes I’ll watch a lot of things that I would otherwise never consider watching. This one was definitely more enjoyable than I expected it to be, even if substance was very much lacking. But then again I tried watching several other Thai films on the plane, a number of them I didn’t get beyond 2 or 3 minutes because they were so awful, and another one which I did manage to complete but which was so predictable and cheesy that it was really very forgettable.
Hormones, at least, had charm.
I hear Hormones 2 is in the plans now…
Yup. I am originally from Thailand so I got to watch that during one of my holidays. I think it was one of the most popular films in cinema then so I went to check it out with my siblings what the fuss was all about… I didn’t expect it to be particularly good but like you say, at least it’s enjoyable:) One thing I find though is that the 4-story structure felt a bit forced. There is no real connection of why we need to see these four short films together, apart form that it happens one summer. At least Love Actually felt a lot more connected…
They made a tv series of Hormones. Not sure if it is exactly the same but I heard it is very popular too.
I haven’t watched Love Actually, so no comparisons there. (Though I hear that the Japanese are making a sort of Love Actually film now too.)
Yup, I’ve heard about the TV series too…
Yay for being from Thailand 🙂 That was the first foreign country I lived in (back when I was a toddler), and one that my family went back to the most (I hadn’t been in a while when I went this October, but my parents still go pretty much every year).
Any idea where could I find these movie online?
No idea, I’m afraid!