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Down The River (Thai)

This film is more like an extended version of a short film. The essence and thought is nice to portray  a tale of love and longing and confusion between two young lovers but somewhere it misses to hold your attention.

Win and Krit are best friends from school. But while Win longs of the day he will start to raise a family, all Krit wants is to take his relationship with Win to the next level. Win may not think himself to be gay, but his relationship with Krit is an essential component of his existence and the two frequently spend long days hiking through the wilderness together. Krit even has a scrapbook filled with pressed flowers from their many hikes. One day, the lifelong friends take a hike with two women. In this specific trip that the film focusses on, Krit feels he is loosing Win to the girls and also in general in his life. He is heart broken. The film doesn't end on a happy note. Krit ultimately looses his love to a girl but he makes his peace with life.

Credit to be given where it is due, the shooting location of the film is fantastic. The ideal setting of an undisturbed forest & waterfalls and beautiful crumbling temples, makes the viewing dynamic but its the slow and lethargic pace that misses out on audience attention. The time flows like the waters of the river the boys follow, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, sometimes swirling back. Both the leading men acted well. You can see Krit as the young boy madly and deeply in love with his friend. At the same time, Win pot rays a guy who is afraid of getting into adulthood because he can't decipher what his feelings are for his friend and his confusion for a wife and a career. He is afraid to be gay but at the same time he can't reject his friendship.

Beautiful thought but how I wish this was a short film. I would have given it quite high rating. (3.5/10)

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