Seven Something (2012)

Seven Something is the GTH's anniversary offering, a movie to commemorate their seventh year in the business. An anthology of sorts, the movie depicts three separate stories of love and friendship. The film opens with a little narration explaining how every 7 years, an important milestone or change happens in a persons life, and each story tries to illustrate this.

And that, I think, is where the movie fails. I'm not sure if I'm just slow in the uptake, or maybe it's a culture thing that I missed, but the title isn't fully incorporated in the story and the narration that's supposed to link each story doesn't really do it. It may be wrong to start this little review with a criticism, but I just need to get it out of the way. Because if you take it aside and try not to look too deep into the title, it's a pretty good movie.

We are first introduced to Milk (Sutatta Udomsilp) and Puan (Jirayu La-Ongmanee), two teens whose love story is proudly publicized online. But it's all thanks to Puan who enjoys basking in the online limelight, which pretty much annoys Milk. This story is probably targeted for the younger audience, though it seems shallow at first, it perfectly captures a phenomenon that's prevalent among the youth. Many kids these days are obsessed with getting as many Facebook likes as possible, as many Youtube views, Twitter followers. This is the generation where the youth gives value on online popularity way too much. And unsurprisingly, it's often the cause of many failed relationships and petty miscommunication.

The second story is of two ex-lovers, Mam (Cris Horwang) and Jon (Sunny Suwanmethanont), who met in a film set but sadly, their breakup isn't very pretty. It's actually very messy breakup that leaves tears and pain (literally) in its trail. Seven years later, Mam tries to convince Jon to do the sequel of the movie that made them famous, but Jon has long turned his back from acting. It's about the career of an actress who tries to hold on to what little popularity she has left. And it's about a man who gives little value in fame but lured in  just because one girl. But most of all, it's a story of a relationship that's ruined by pride and hurtful words. It's a relationship that's battered and completely stripped off beauty, but once the couple set aside their pride and inhibitions, they're left with enough care for each other to get back together.

The conclusion of the movie tells the story of two people who cannot be more different from each other. Both characters are unnamed which leaves more charm to their story. They met when the guy which we should simply call Finisher 1988 (Nichkhun) bumps into the girl, who happens to be an anchorwoman, during one of his runs. After a couple of persuasion, he manages to persuade the anchorwoman (Suquan Bulakul) to join a marathon. He runs just to prove that his asthma isn't a limitation but a challenge, while she runs to start over and try to triumph over the sadness of her past. But the conflict arises when she realizes that people may not exactly approve of whatever relationship they have at the present. She's a woman old enough to be her mother and her past may forever haunt her. And he's a young man who has his whole life ahead of him. But as they ponder over this dilemma, they also go through the devils of running a marathon.

Each story has its flaws but each one also has its own perks. Surprisingly, I am most invested in the last story, when most of the time, I usually avoid older woman-younger man plotline. There's a coherence in the story in which I think the 3rd person narration helps create. The flashbacks help, too, and I think that of the three stories, it has the most depth. Their relationship is given time to develop, so the conflict wasn't rushed. I guess it also helps that it's the longest in the three-part movie. But maybe it's in the fact that it's the only one that gives a strong end to its story.

I cannot find the article where it's stated that there's a different director for each story, but despite it, the movie still has a coherence to it that I can only attribute to the editing. The movie is beautifully shot and well-edited, too. Each shot seems to be given ample creative input. From the first story alone, they made using technology seem so exciting! I mean, Puan's just editing videos and filming, how exciting can it get, right? So kudos to the team behind the movie. In the second story, we are presented with such visual delight for every underwater shot in the aquarium. It's really a sight to behold.

Rounding up actors and actresses that have already appeared in previous GTH films, Seven Something is enjoyable to watch. Even for someone like me who has only watched a handful of movies from them, the movie still feels a bit like a trip down memory lane. Because aside from telling fresh stories, the movie also pays tribute to the movies that took company to where it is right now. So many cameos in the movie and it's like a game for a foreign viewer like me to spot the actors and actresses who appeared in other GTH films.

Seven Something is a good movie, but not GTH's best. But I understand why they chose such format to celebrate their anniversary. Each part is short but it challenges the directors to come up with ways to effectively tell a compelling story within a limited time. Thus, there's no time for irrelevance or petty angles. We are only given what's essential to ke. And t