With two successful horror films -- Chanthaly and Dearest Sister -- under her belt, Laos' first female director Mattie Do is currently engrossed in shooting her third film, a science-fiction thriller called Bor Mi Vanh Chark (The Long Walk), at a location that's a 30-minute drive from country capital Vientiane.
Mattie Do in Bangkok. Photo: Somchai Poomlard
Los Angeles-born Do comes from a mixed-heritage Lao/Vietnamese family that resettled in the US as refugees prior to her birth. Her life since then has become a living testament that where there is a will there is a way. Do's life experiences, both good and bad, have moulded her into a personality capable of maintaining a positive mindset despite what life throws at her.
Do, who started directing around 2011, might not possess any formal education in filmmaking, but is a trained make-up artist and ballet dancer who worked in film production in both Europe and the US before returning to Laos to care for her ageing father. Filmmaking was certainly in the cards for the vivacious Do, as she also is a consultant to the oldest film company in Laos, Lao Art Media.
Discussing her latest venture, Bor Mi Vanh Chark, she remarked: "It has a science-fiction, time-travel, serial-killer plot. It is a strange but beautiful film.
"There are a number of issues I want to address in this film. The issue of regret and loss. This film deals a lot with emotional loss and disproportionate development not just in Laos but in its neighbouring countries, begging the question: how is it that in the same country where things are so developed, you see another part that is just the opposite?
"Another really big theme in this film is people who make decisions for others. The main character, played by veteran Lao actor Siengyan Chanthalangsi, is an old man. And he starts to take it upon himself to make decisions for other people. He is the serial killer who commits murder as mercy killing.
"I get into the mind of this mercy killer. The story is partly from his [present-day] point of view and partly from his point of view as a young boy. So we go back into his past to explain what made him this way -- when he was a young boy, what forced him to become this person. And as he goes back [in time] to affect his past, he doesn't realise he is affecting that young boy's future, and so when he returns to the present time, he does not remember what has changed, while in fact everything around him has changed. And he cannot figure out why. And so he keeps going back -- in essence he is digging himself a deeper hole. This young boy's life is so out of control -- like, his parents make decisions for him on everything."
Discussing this in the context of the aid work being done in her country, Do continued: "Sometimes, there are aid workers come to our country and make defcisions for us. Sometimes, it is like putting a band-aid on a problem that is actually much deeper. There are problems which we may have had for generations, and so we cannot fix it with just a band-aid. They aren't always able to think about the root reasons why we have these issues in our country. I think their work is great, but how sustainable are we without them?"
Do, who has hired a Thai a production designer, tells us that she prefers the real gritty look when it comes to the images she wants. Asian films, she said, sometimes start to adhere to a particular style, like we observe in Hong Kong-, Korean- and Thai-style movies.
"Lao [films] do not have a style," mused Do. "So we need to make our own. This also means we can do whatever we want. It does not mean it has to be bright and beautiful, or, for that matter, dark and lacklustre or adhere to stereotypes in Asian horror films.
"Laos does not need to follow these stereotypes and should build its own identity. I want it to look true to life, of course, with an artistic side to it."
The perky filmmaker, who is also on
Straits Times' 50 Asians To Watch list this year, tells us that the idea of making a science-fiction thriller came about due to a series of experiences she had with her previous two movies. She said some critics felt they didn't feel Lao, meaing the stereotypical mindset that the films should portray poverty and destitution. It's worth observing that they were restrained in their location, mostly urban areas. This, she explained, was because of a tight budget.
A sample poster for Bor Mi Vanh Chark.
"Chanthaly was a film that I made for, like, a five grand -- that is what I could do at the time. My dog Mango stars in it, everything in it is mine, like my house, my car and even my friends who are acting in it.
Then in Dearest Sister I had like 85 grand to make the production. It was amazing -- a big jump up for me. I felt like this was such a luxury. Now I have $200,000, and I am well ... I need to do more, I need to do better, I need to push myself. Every film needs to be a drastic improvement from the previous one."
Do admitted that with each film she directs, her filmmaking skills go a notch higher. Her desire is to pull the audience into atmospheres they might not necessarily want to inhabit, out of their control and against their will.
"I feel that way, and that is the challenge I am taking with this film," remarked the witty film director. "How can I shoot a film where there is more impetus for the viewer? The camera is also like another being, participating in what is transpiring. The audience also feels like they're in the film, a little bit out of control ... maybe. I want the experience for the audience to be thought-provoking -- they should feel the motivation of the camera and my intention as a film director in how the story is unfolding through the eye of the camera."
Speaking on how hardships can build character, Do, who has a great sense of humour, continued: "As a young person, I felt life was really tough, but now, as an older person, I feel there was a purpose behind it. The hard life influenced my filmmaking."
Do at the newly constructed main location of Bor Mi Vanh Chark, set in rural Laos. Photos courtesy of Mattie Do
Bor Mi Vanh Chark, a film she describes as being introspective, is for an adult audience that desires to explore what drives a person's decision-making habits. A drama-oriented flick that entertains in both a personal and intimate manner, it is also a thriller, she added, as the main character's bad decisions escalate his body count also piles up. You start to feel the tension because of the consequences of what he has done. While it is a realistic film, it also has a science-fiction aspect that makes it surreal.
