Interview with Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit

Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit celebrates the premiere of his film on the Opening Night red carpet. Photo Credit: Ye Fan.

Thai director Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit opened the 20th New York Asian Film Festival with his latest film, Fast and Feel Love, a story threading elements of action, comedy, and romance as it follows the relationship of Kao (Nat Kitcharit), an aspiring pro-sports stacker who’s struck by the practical demands of adult life for the first time after splitting with his girlfriend, Jay (Urassaya “Yaya” Sperbund), who’s assumed the role of his caretaker for the past ten years.

Fans of Thamrongrattanarit’s previous films will be familiar with these eccentric, out-of-the-box narratives and the idiosyncratic characters employing a delightfully offbeat brand of humor; his 2013 film, Mary is Happy, Mary is Happy, carved its foundation from a series of 410 tweets written by a teenage girl cataloging random observances in her quotidien life alongside confessions rich with the pangs of coming-of-age longing. In Happy Old Year, Thamrongrattanarit took a stab at an uberly trendy minimalist lifestyle through the story of Jean, a young woman whose story takes shape through chapters of a “How to Dump” manual as she prepares to empty her family home of all material possessions – though each object instead opens a confrontation with a past she must come to terms with before letting go. Both films balance a penchant for quirkiness with a nostalgic sensibility, to create narratives elegantly poised with a bittersweet flavor that’s as elusive to describe as time is fleeting.

Fast and Feel Love sees the director cross bravely into a new narrative world, dimming the feeling of a naturalistic “slow burn” (Thamrongrattanarit’s own self-proclaimed home turf) and accelerating the pace through quickfire action-inspired scenes while dialing up on slapstick comedy. Before the international premiere of Fast and Feel Love, NYAFF sat down with the director to discuss the inspiration behind this film – spoiler alert: though his former films might fall under an “arthouse” banner he’s a huge fan of superhero blockbusters – and the challenges of experimenting within a new style of filmmaking. Drawing upon the consistent narrative themes of remembrance, preservation, and language reveals Thamrongrattanarit’s consistent concern with presenting a longing for elsewhere in time and in space. Below, the director also discusses his sensitivity to the passage of time, and the ability to come-of-age in any decade, at any year, as places of growth and our interpersonal relationships impact the identity we eventually grow into.

INTERVIEW:

Alexandra Bentzien (NYAFF): I’m very excited to talk to you today, because I saw Mary Is Happy a few of years ago and I was so struck by the way you incorporated a Twitter thread to tell the friendship of these two girls, which was funny but also quite moving. I recently saw Happy Old Year, and now Fast and Feel Love, so it’s great to be speaking to you today about that film. First things first: how did you get into the world of sports stacking?

Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit (Director, Fast & Feel Love): My main concern with the film was to explore the daily life of the superhero who is growing up or needs to grow up. The meaning of the superhero to me is an ordinary person who is very good at doing something. So I have to find the occupation of the main character, what is the superpower in their life. I started with an athlete, someone who’s running fastest. I explored more and more until I found sports stacking. I watched video clips of the sport stackers and they were very fast: they finished stacking within four seconds! And to me it’s kind of like a special ability, like, How can you do that? It’s so amazing. I thought, It’s the right thing for the film. So I chose cup stacking or sports stacking.

NYAFF: Did you know anyone in the sports stacking world previously?

NT: No.

NYAFF: You just found out on the internet?

NT: Yes. But first I thought it was just a sport in the USA; I thought no one in Thailand played. But then I searched and found there’s a sports stacking club in Thailand also. So I just contacted them to research more. Then I thought, yeah, it was possible for this character to play in Thailand.

NYAFF: Throughout your research process did you go to visit this sports stacking school or were you in touch with aspiring sports stackers?

NT: Yeah. When I contacted the club they sent the teacher who instructs students in the sports stacking school. He instructed me to play and taught me about the social life and the community in the sport.

NYAFF: So you also learned how to play in the process –

NT: A little. But I’m very slow. (laughs) So yeah. I learned more and more about the background, the people who play stack, the core of sports stacking: how they practice, how they practice for faster speed, but also their relationship with real life.

NYAFF: You mentioned earlier that you set out to make a superhero movie featuring ordinary, everyday people. Can you talk a little about your inspirations behind that idea and where that came from?

NT: Maybe it’s because in my real life I just bought a house and just moved in. You know, I’m a filmmaker who only knows about filmmaking, and this is a very new thing for me. Some ordinary problem in the house is easy to solve for regular people, but very hard for me. So I just started to have the idea that somebody, someone who is good at something, only one thing maybe, they can’t do anything in their life. General problems could be a difficult problem for him, something like that. So I had the idea that: what if Alfred doesn’t have Batman? What does he do? I think these kinds of ideas combined together to become this film.

NYAFF: Yeah, the main character, Kao, can’t do anything for himself; he always needs Jay to help him along. I’ve noticed that in your previous films you often focus on young adults or coming-of-age subjects. What interests you about this crucial period of growing-up specifically?

NT: Because my previous films are all about younger adults, I wanted to make a film about older people, thirty-somethings, thirty plus. It’s very new territory for my own films, and actually for Thai film, because most of the Thai films talk about teen life, or people who are in their late twenties, but they don’t touch on people who are in their mid-thirties. I think it’s interesting to tell a romantic relationship for this age. As I say this film is very new territory for me. Because now I’m 38. From 30 to 38 I learned a lot. To me it’s like a new era, because nothing is the same as it was in my twenties. I meet people who have a problem with a relationship I’ve never heard of before. I have a chance to talk to older people, who are in their forties, and they have a child together and will eventually divorce, but they’re just waiting for their children to graduate from university first and then separate. It’s totally different from the love in teenage years. Because in teenage years I think it’s all about love. But in the mid-thirties or something, love relies on the life conditions. It’s not only about love itself but about conditions in life: habits, behavior, the economy, many things. I think people change all the time, you know. When you are in your mid-thirties, you are different from who you were in your twenties. So sometimes people have to reset: you have to talk to each other again, meet again, to save a relationship.

NYAFF: One of the things I remember from Happy Old Year is the moment when Jean notices she has a past, and everyone in the film already has a past they can’t recover. Here, in this film, it’s interesting because Kao, the main character, seems like a man child. His only past is cup stacking. He seems like a younger adult than he should be.

NT: It’s like a child in an adult body, something like that.

NYAFF: Yeah. And I feel a lot of your previous characters seem much more mature – in many ways – than he is. Like he’s lost in a very material way, he can’t do any of the housework, yet he’s been in a relationship for ten years.

NT: Even though the story is a lot about Kao, to me, at the core of the film, the story is all about Jay. Sometimes when I was writing the script I asked myself: is this story about Kao or Jay actually? But maybe in my subconscious – actually, it should be a story about Jay. She has to make a decision in her life, in the future. To me the real story offers much more if we take the main character as Jay. But if you read the synopsis you will think the story is all about Kao.

NYAFF: It seems like Jay is the real superhero in the end.

NT: Yeah. She makes a decision in the end. But I don’t know. It’s like, even though Kao can look like a child, the life event that he has to beat, that he has to confront, is quite mature. It’s like life forced him to be an adult immediately. Some of my friends are like that: they have parents who help along for their whole life. But one day, their parents die, and they have to grow up. I think that’s all about maturity.

NYAFF: Yeah. Even though the characters are still in their thirties, it seems that the characters still face a lot of the issues that younger teen characters might face, but on a different scale. I feel like this film tonally is also quite different from your previous films. There’s a lot of action elements; you shout out Taken, John Wick, Star Wars, and also Parasite. Can you talk a little bit about those references?

NT: If you watch my films then you know it’s kind of a “slow burn” cinema. I’ve made films for ten years and I just told myself this year – last year – I want to make new things. I want to experiment, to find new ideas for the cinema, or find a new style, maybe for the future as well. This film is quite different – actually, my audience always says this. Because somebody who likes Happy Old Year, and then they watch this film, they’re quite surprised, or shocked, or confused a bit, you know. But personally, I want to make a change. Actually, if you ever watch my commercial work, it’s something like this [Fast and Feel Love]. In my commercial work the style is quite comedic, and sometimes absurd, because in commercial work you get to play with many things; since the message is quite small, you can focus on the style and play a bit with many cinematic techniques. I can try a new funny joke, new subjects. I never brought this to a feature film. But this time I think is the right time to take a chance.

NYAFF: Did you know from the start that you wanted to make something that was more action-packed?

NT: Yes. Because actually I watch a lot of action films. Sometimes when I watched these kinds of action films as an audience member, how can I say, I don’t get into it, but I love how the characters react to each other in action blockbuster roles. Everyone looks serious, but…(laughs) From the audience, I enjoy it; but as a filmmaker I think action is a little bit like comedy. Everybody looks serious all the time – because it’s an action film – so I know that if I want to make a comedy, I want to make a spoof or parody of action movies. There’s a lot of references in Fast and Feel Love. It’s kind of a love letter to blockbuster cinema because all of the references in the film come from the films I love; because I love it I can remember the rhythm or the camera movement of the thing that I think is cool.

NYAFF: So which ones were at the top of your mind while you were filming and writing?

NT: Maybe Taken. Because when you write an action movie, you must have a telephone scene. So my film also has a telephone scene. When I wanted to shoot the telephone scene my mind had the image from Taken, because it’s iconic.

NYAFF: Was it difficult for you getting into this new genre?

NT: I think it’s very difficult. When you write a script, you don’t feel it. When you go on set, you will feel that it’s totally different filmmaking from my previous work. When, in my previous work, because they’re “slow burn” films, there’s quite a lot of long takes, very slow camera movement, but for this film everything is quick. Sometimes it’s not really about acting but about the rhythm between camera and actor. Like when you’re moving you have to act right now. This method is something that I’m not used to. But I feel like I’m having fun when I try to make it. To me as a filmmaker it’s very important that you still enjoy filmmaking on set. Some scenes in Fast and Feel Love are my own style, especially for Jay’s parts: it’s kind of a “slow burn” drama, it’s quite realistic. When I shot that kind of scene, I felt safe, because I know all the blocking, I know how the camera moves; but when I shot Kao’s part, it was very difficult for me, because I don’t know if it’s fast enough. Is it too slow? Is it too slow for editing? But if it’s too fast, the message is lost. When I shot it was very fun. But when I was on set, I also couldn’t know what would come up, what the result would be. So I had to take risks again in the editing room, to see what kind of tale I have. In the editing room, it was like I rewrote the script again. It’s also a comedy film, so it opened up many possibilities through editing for things that aren’t in the script.

NYAFF: There’s definitely many aspects of play in the film. And there’s a couple moments where the characters reference that they are actually in a film. Kao is sitting on the ground and he wonders, Oh, I wonder if this moment will make it into the trailer. Why did you include this reflection?

NT: It’s like… it’s weird comedy! (laughs) I can try to explain some of the actions, but the best I can say is: it’s my kind of joke. It’s just kind of improvised on set. They shot that scene as it was in the script already, so then I told the actor, hey, just say something like this. When I watched it on the monitor, it was very funny. So I just tried it and I used that in the final cut also. It’s like… just try. It’s funny. That’s all I can explain. Maybe I just love the films that break the fourth wall, like a Woody Allen film, or a Marvel film like Deadpool. And maybe because I am a film person, you know, I love films about films. So I’m not sure if I should call this an inside joke, an inside joke for film people. When I put it in the film, I’m not sure if the audience will get it or not. But if you want to try new things, you open some possibilities. If you have a chance to try it, just try it. Maybe the general audience can like this kind of joke also. Maybe if they can, maybe this is a new way of comedy. That’s it.

NYAFF: I personally liked that humor a lot, along with the instances where the characters talk about the voiceovers that are happening in their heads – it’s funny. I’m also curious about why the lead actress, Yaya, speaks English throughout the film.

NT: I think it comes from workshop. I never met Yaya before; I just had a casting call and invited her. Before I started, we had a chat, and I found out she’s kind of bilingual. She always speaks Thai and English, all the time. I didn’t have this idea before, for this character, but I thought, yeah, you can try Thai and English when we have a casting. And I think when I watched the tape it was very interesting to hear the writing spoken like that; it was quite beautiful. And another thing is that this language also talks about boundaries. This film wants to say that nowadays there’s no boundaries for people.

NYAFF: No borders.

NT: Yeah. No borders. If you are a Thai person, maybe the right place for you is America. I think it’s interesting: Jay is a Thai person who speaks English fluently, but she never had an idea to go abroad. But Kao is a Thai person who wants to go to America. This is a main theme of the film. I try to play with it in the story also.

NYAFF: It seems, even though the borders are dissolved, there’s still this consistent dream in the film of crossing a border by going to America. America as a destination of dreams is such an integral part of the film. We’ll go there, we’ll make it, I’ll become famous as a sports stacker. Is this a sentiment that you experience or hear about within your country?

NT: I think for this era, a lot of Thai people, a lot of young people especially, want to go somewhere else. They want to move out of the country. Because actually there’s a lot of problems in Thailand and not everyone’s dream is supported. Sometimes, people who love animation – or someone with a special ability – has to move out from Thailand to work in America. Whereas, if you stay in Thailand, you might have a job, but you have to move to some country in Europe to have a good life of your own. So. I think this movie is very present in Thailand. Because now today people think this: they want to move out, to find the right place for themselves.

NYAFF: Do you think these characters could have found this “right place” together in Thailand?

NT: I think maybe in the future. Actually, the message I want to talk about in this film is that people have to find their right place. And that’s okay. Because if you still love each other, you still love. It’s not about the place. It’s not about staying together. It’s about the support. I have to let the characters separate in the end of the film to talk about this message. Someone asked if these two characters can reconcile or get back together; I just say that: maybe, in the future. Because I didn’t say that they don’t love each other. This is not the right time, right place. Maybe Kao goes to the U.S. and one day he just realizes that this is not the place that he wants to be, and he just wants to be in Thailand with Jay. Maybe in the future.

NYAFF: I’m very interested in how you discuss memory in your films, and time. My last question for you is about this. Here [in Fast and Feel Love], time is presented as a commodity that you can steal, you know, Kao says, Jay, I’m sorry for stealing your time, various characters say, I’m wasting so much time. What’s your relationship to time like? Where does this inspiration to tell stories about time and memory come from?

NT: Hard question. (laughs) The final question is the hardest question. I think I’m someone who… to me the past is very precious and time is very precious. I don’t know when it happened to me. But I always loved to go back to see old photos. I love to tidy my room every new year and I always find an old object in my room, and when I see the object a lot of scenes just happen in my head. I don’t know why I have this thing in my body. Whatever kind of film I make, I always have this theme in the film. I don’t know why. When you mention it, I just realized it: yeah, I have a thing about memory and time. In almost everything. Even if you ask me in Thai language, this question is very hard because I never think about it. But. I think time is like a life system. Going forward. And I’m fascinated with this system. If I have a chance to make a film I want to make a film about this kind of stuff. Now I’m starting to write a new script, just a bit, but it’s also about time. (laughs). It’s about time, but this time about older people. Yeah. Maybe because time is a system of everything to me. If I understand time, maybe I can understand life. When I make a film, every time, when I get some message from the film, that message is also talking to people. And when the character gets an answer in the film, I myself get the answer for my time. Because everything, every story in the film is from my slice of life, a part of my life. Film is kind of a recounting: each film is the question of my life in that period. And maybe my question always revolves around time: how can I control time, how can I get the past back? And the answer is: impossible. You just have to let it go. Sometimes you have to give something, and give something away. Because some things you can’t get back anymore. Maybe this is the answer.

This interview took place on Friday, July 15, 2022 with Alexandra Bentzien and Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit.