Cataloging movies by their nationalities is convenient, though it's getting less practical and less relevant, in this age of internationalism and cross-border influences. We have a shining case in point this week: P Chai My Hero, or How to Win at Checkers (Every Time), looks, speaks, and feels Thai, though its genealogy is truly international. The film is based on two short stories by US-based Thai writer, Rattawut Lapcharoensap and directed by Korean-American Josh Kim, who moved to Thailand two years ago and successfully mounted this independent production.
How to Win at Checkers (Every Time), which has opened at selected cinemas, hinges on that fateful day in the life of Thai men, the military draft day, with the gender issue layered on top. Oat (Ingkarat Damrongsakkul) and his older gay brother Ek (Thira Chutikul) are orphaned boys who live in a small town with their aunt. Ek is scheduled for the annual draft — when young men stop whatever they do in life to pick lottery slips from a jar that will determine if they'll have to serve in the army for two years — and Oat is distressed at the prospect of his brother having to leave him. As Ek is forced to go through the national rite of passage with the military, the young Oat is guided through the maze of growing pains by his brother.
Touching on the subject that we hardly see in Thai films, How to Win at Checkers (Every Time) is a coming-of-age drama that also shows how the rich and the poor negotiate the social structures that govern Thai life.
We catch up with director Josh Kim, who made his feature-length debut with this film.
What was the last film you saw and what did you think about it?
I just saw Inside Out when I was in the US. I cried at the end. Everyone was wearing 3-D glasses and had to take their glasses off to wipe their tears. It reminded me that good movies make us feel something. It's the emotions that we will remember once we leave the cinema.
Your film has gay characters. What is your most favorite gay-themed film?
I learned from Big Eden (2000) that if you create a fictional world and make it believable, you can show people what could be possible. The films of Thomas Bezucha have been really influential to me as a filmmaker.
Your film also has the military draft day at the centre. What is your most favourite military/soldier film?
When I watch trailers in Korea, I feel that so many of the movies are about honour and respect. When I go to the US, it seems like half the films are about war or fighting. Even Transformers feels like a military film. But I love documentaries and I thought Restrepo (2010) by Tim Hetherington and Sebasian Junger was amazing.
Your film has been adapted from two short stories by a Thai writer. Is there a book or a story that you'd like to adapt into a movie and why?
I've already bought another story, it's a Chinese science-fiction short story by Hao Jingfang, but we want to develop it into an English language film. I feel the themes raised in the story are very topical today and something which I would like to explore further. I'm also a big fan of Crazy Rich Asians and just feel that it would be a fun movie to watch.
You're not Thai but your film speaks Thai and feels very Thai. What's the quality of "Thainess", if that's even possible to define, that's most endearing to you? Also, on the contrary, what is the most off-putting?
There's a slow moment in the film where Oat, the young boy, touches a myalap plant and watches the leaves fold up. People have come up to me and said that this scene makes the film so Thai. But I remember doing this as well in the US (with maybe a different plant). Even though our film has scenes specific to Thailand, as a director I tried to find a larger context where people outside of Thailand could also relate.
What's your take on the military draft?
One thing I liked about the original story by Rattawut Lapcharoensap, Draft Day, was that it felt as if this one small event, the draft lottery, was a sort of microcosm of the world at large. Namely, that people who have money, have more choices. I think it's interesting that the draft is done by lottery in Thailand. But if you say it's a fair system, it should be fair for everyone — both the rich and the poor.
Ingkarat Damrongsakkul, left, and director Josh Kim, on the set.
