Happy Old Year

Jean decides to adopt the minimalist style and throw away almost everything she has. Among useless objects, she finds a camera that reminds her of the past.

A nice Thai film, winner of 2 trophies at secondary film festivals in Asia, which turned out to be a good surprise. The pace is slow, there's no over the top dramatic moments, even when we find out about shocking revelations for the storyline.

I felt that the narrative was like a river, with a destination (flowing into the ocean), that runs through several key points, some where the current can be more dangerous and put the characters at risk and others where calm and tranquility reigns.

It's a film about leaving the past behind, in a peaceful way. Memories are good, but we cannot hold on to them if we want to achieve fullness in life.

Chutimon puts body and soul to the character and is undoubtedly the starting engine that brings life this melodrama.

The purpose of this movie is not for viewers to follow, but it's for viewers to relate to themselves and get emotional with the protagonist. Everyone has pasts and most of us store them in the very back of our minds. The film try to put the viewer in the shoe of the protagonist, in a very subtle way. If you can not follow the protagonist's emotional aspects then you will not like this film, because there is no point in watching. It's like buying a ticket to a roller coaster ride, only to find out it's a ticket to watch someone else riding the roller coaster and you have to imagine how fun it is or recollect how you feel the last time you actually rode the same roller coaster ride...

Having new apartment by get rid of all the stuff in the past. It sounds damn easy but it occurs to the lady who think also but actually not. Stuff is dead but memory it recalls is priceless. When the daughter decide to throw his dad piano, her mum breakdown. It just makes me feel why my parents won't throw stuff for the sake of their reasons. It's a light movie but good one for some thinking too.

Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit's 'Happy Old Year' sparks joy by embracing the melancholy of its story. Thamrongrattanarit uses the metaphor of Marie Kondo's KonMari method as an analogy of a concise psychological portrait where self-discovery, the confrontation of the past, as well as letting go of the burden that tormenting memories become necessary tasks to start over from scratch. A simple yet important message about the need to start afresh, but also to remember the people and memories along the way. Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying excels with her engaging and captivating performance.

You'll absolutely disappointed if you expect for fast-paced romance & melodrama like others romance GDH film, but if you expect slow build-up, great character development, realistic acting, and bunch of emotional swings, this is for you.

(BEST GDH MOVIE SINCE 'BAD GENIUS')