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| Let me serenade you |
Mat-Deaw says that when he started writing the script, he was probably too optimistic. He thought homophobia in Thai society was starting to wane.
When the film was released, he knew that gays and kathoey (ladyboys) were still regarded as outsiders - that in the eyes of some viewers, they cannot fall in love. In most Thai movies, they are portrayed as figures of fun, or meet a grisly end.
"When we say that it is a love movie, they think we must mean the love between a man and a woman. When they go to see it, and realise this is not the case, they get angry. They can't get beyond that point. But I don't care - I still made it."
Mat-Deaw was asked how the release of Poj Anon's gay drama, Friends (Bangkok Love Story) affected marketing for Love of Siam. He said he did not know whether his film or Poj's movie would be released first.
However, box office takings suffered for Poj's film because people pigeon-holed it as a "gay" film rather than a gay action flick, or gay-themed family drama.
"If you declare that a movie is a gay movie, box office takings will shrink. The attitude towards such films is negative even before people go to see it. It automatically excludes some audiences. Even if Poj's film came out first, as it did, my own film would suffer the same fate.
"The lesson is this: if people knew what was in my film before it came out, it would automatically have been relegated as a niche film. Marketers don't want a film to end up that way, because as the people selling a movie they want as many people as possible to see it."
Mat-Deaw says he owes a debt to the gay cowboy drama Brokeback Mountain, which introduced gay love to wide audiences. Five or five years ago, Love of Siam could not have been made.
He disagrees that the trailer tricked people, even though it did not elude to the gay relationship at its core. The film was not just about gay love, but family love as well.
However, he admits that more people did see it than would have been the case given prevailing attitudes about gay content in Thai movies.
Coming up: any sequel planned?
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