Over a period of years, film industry has acknowledged a great number of successful movies made by different talented directors with a variety of genres. Horror, drama, comedy, action… are all very popular types of movies. However, not many directors dare to take a risk of making a film that combines two different types of movies. That’s why I’m extremely interested in Pee Mak – a Thai successful horror comedy movie.
Pee Mak was made in 2012 in Thailand. It is an adaptation of the Mae Nak Phra Khanong legend of Thai folklore including some real events that happened during the early 19th century. In brief, the story talks about a beautiful woman named Nak in Bangkok with her eternal love for Mak – her husband. Unfortunately, Mak is sent to war battle while she is pregnant. After being allowed to come back to home from the battle, Mak gathers with his wife and child but he doesn’t know that they died at the time he was in the battle. Then, after some events, he knows that both Nak and his child are dead and he is really terrified. However, finally, Nak has a chance to live with her husband in the rest of her life.
The director of the film is Banjong Pisanthanakun – a famous Thai director. He is also the director of some well-known films such as 4BIA, Phobia 2, Alone and Hello Stranger. Three of these are horror film (4BIA, Phobia 2 and Alone) and one is romantic-comedy film (Hello Stranger, also his first romantic film). It can be seen that there are some similarities and differences in terms of theme among these film and Pee Mak. Pee Mak is a combination of two different genres which are horror and comedy. Banjong had experience in horror and comedy film before, which probably is reason why he decided to make this horror comedy movie. As for me, this is such a interesting movie that can make you watch again and again.
This film is catapulted to attention thanks to many different factors.
What is mentioning first is its actors. The first main actor is Mario Maurer who is known as ‘Prince of Ticket Room’. Mario Maurer is a hot boy with three kinds of blood from Thailand, China and Germany. He is famous for not only his handsome outlook but also his successful lead roles before in ‘The Love of Siam’ and the 2010 sleeper hit ‘First Love’. The second main actress is Davika Hoorne – a beautiful woman in ‘Golden Pagoda country’ She has made her become a star since she got a role in ‘Bpidtu Poom Prom Dan Haeng Ruk’. Then, with ‘Pee Mak’, she has become more popular. So, with these two actors who are not only famous and popular, particularly with teenagers and young people but also are the significant actors who represent the new generation in Thai film industry, the film is very possible to be successful.
The second factor that is noticeable in this film is the smart combination of horror and comedy. Audiences certainly find it amazing and interesting when they watch ‘Pee Mak’. This combination has brought ‘Pee Mak’ far beyond out of ordinary. Normally, audiences would feel scared when they watch horror and find films funny if they watch comedy. However, ‘Pee Mak’ this time has given them a new feeling. They even can laugh while the scene is scary. In other words, they have a chance to experience new things thorough this funny and scary film.
The final point that needs to be mentioned is the meaning of the movie. Not only does ‘Pee Mak’ give audiences a new experience about film but it also conveys a meaningful thing in life about love. There are many people who cried a lot after watching the end of this film because it is very touching. Audiences would feel not only surprised but also happy for Nak and Mak because finally, they have a happy ending.
In short, with two well-known and talented actors as well as the combination of horror and comedy and the meaning it conveys, ‘Pee Mak’ has quickly proven that it is a successful movie, which can be easily seen from its sold-out-ticket from the first days when ‘Pee Mak’ was shown in the cinema. More specifically, in Vietnam, after one week debuting in 15 cinemas, nearly 100,000 tickets were sold out. Moreover, ‘Pee Mak’ has broken a record that used to belong to ‘The Legend of Suriyothai’ and become the most prevalent film during years with the revenue up to over 10 million pounds.
As far as structure is concerned, there are a number of features that are very noticeable.
First of all, the title of this flick is Pee Mak. There are two main reasons explaining why ‘Pee Mak’ was chosen to be the title. Firstly, Mak is the main character who has the direct connection to all of the things happing in this film. Pee Mak appears during the film, from the start to the end. It can be easily seen that, Pee Mak is the person who is associated with the development of the film. More specifically, what makes audiences really want to keep watching this film is the gradual development in Mak’s cognition. Why do I say that? Mak is the only person who doesn’t know the fact that his wife is dead and now she is a ghost. Audiences want to know when will Mak know this fact and how can he know this? He marks every important point of this movie. That explains why Mak’s name is chosen to be the title of the film. In other words, with this title, audiences can recognise easily the close-knit relation between the content and the title of the film because the title always reminds audiences about what the film is talking about. The second point is that Pee Mak is a concise title that can grab audience’s attention from the first glance. That means, it gives audiences the first impression on the film and makes audiences want to find out more about it.
The film started by the establishing shot of the house and the scene that Nak was in labour pain. She tried to call somebody to the rescue in vain. We can see the blood was falling on her legs, for me, it is such an obsessional scene because blood is always something reminding people of something creepy. Then, she fell and made the candle fall down floor, which makes viewers think of something terrible and fearful. In other words, the scene that the candle fell down the floor is a symbol, a sign telling audience that a tragedy is about to happen. After that, the screen suddenly became black and at the same time, viewers can hear Nak’s voice: “Pee Mak…” obsessively. From my point of view, this way of starting is very suitable and impressive.
The narrative code used in this movie is enigma code. Everything starts in mysterious way. And also, during the film, every detail is so hard to understand. There are many questions arising in audiences’ mind and it seems that no answer is reasonable. Hence, audiences want to watch more and more to find out the answers. That means, it draws audiences’ full attention to the movie and undoubtedly, that is one of the basic points to make a successful film.
Another noticeable thing is that there are some motifs used in this film. Firstly, we can see the scene that Nak is holding her baby and standing in front of her house waiting for Mak. This is a very familiar scene that we have seen many times in many different films. It represents her situation at that time that she had to give birth alone, take care of the baby alone and wait for her husband’s returning. In addition, this scene is put at the beginning of the movie so viewers have a very strong emotional impression on the movie. Other motif used in Pee Mak is the ferris wheel. It is undeniable that this image appeared a lot of times in romantic movies. It is known as a symbol standing for eternal love of couples. So, I think, by filming this image, the director wants to put more emphasis on the love of Nak and Mak that they will always be together till the end no matter what happens. One other shot that I think it is also a motif is the shot of scorpions. In horror movies, shots of scorpions are often used to make audiences scared. Using these shots are also the ways to show significantly the characteristic of horror movie. So, generally, I think that by using the familiar motif in horror and romantic movies, the director presented not only the genre of the movie but also its meaningful things during the movie.
Sound is also one of the factors that make Pee Mak become impressive and valuable. With dramatic sound effects, the movie makes audience scared, even creates audiences’ start. Sound is a very important feature that can decide the success of a movie. In Pee Mak, sound is used in a suitable and convincing way. In horror scenes, such as the scene that Mak and his friends went into the forests or when Ter – one of Mak’s friends saw Nak’s bone buried in land…, the music is very dramatic and scary, which helps link the idea of terrifying things to audience. Similarly, romantic music is used very effectively in romantic scenes. For example, when Nak and Mak were sitting and talking with each other in the ferries wheel, the music is so sweet and melodious, which helps promote more emotions to audiences.
Colors are also used effectively in this movie. Like sound, color is one of the most crucial aspects in film. There are two things that need to be taken notice of. First of all, by using vintage colors, the film has given a sense of time. Everybody can recognise that all these events occurring in this film are in the past. Moreover, audiences have an opportunity to be put in the scene and experience clearly the time. For example,
This color is used many times in the film set in the past. It is not cold or vivid, but old. We can easily see this color in the dirt or on the clothes that the soldiers are wearing. There is the strong interaction among these features, which creates a visual sense of time. In other words, this old color plays an important role in reminding audiences of something happening in the past.
The second point is that Pee Mak succeeded in using dark colors to show scary scenes. Colors directly have a great influence on audiences regarding not only visually but also emotionally. So, with the help of these dark colors, audiences feel more excited and curious of the story. For instance,
All the things that audiences can recognise in this shot are the dull and sombre colors covering all screen. There are no colors else except for black, brown and grey. This combination of these colors often represents something very scary and creepy. Along with sound, this shot is one of the shots that make ‘audiences’ hearts jump out of the body’. Moreover, there is a striking contrast in terms of color between the house and Shin - Mak’s friend. Entire objects in this shot are all covered by dark colors, however, it is clearly seen that the house is significantly brighter than Shin, which means there is something mysterious and surprising in this house that needs to be discovered.
There are some striking uses of perspective used in this film that give audiences a strong impression on each specific scene. The cameraman applied pan shots and one wide-angel shot to show the surrounding scenery of the village where Mak and Nak live. The pan shots help audiences observe everything slowly and carefully so that they can get an insight into what is happening in this village. More specifically, viewers can easily recognise that it is very quiet, empty and terrifying. Along with the vintage color used, audiences are allowed to feel and to have an idea of what was and is about to happen. After two pan shots, there is a wide-angel shot that show clearly and generally the scenery. This combination is very powerful because it transfers very clearly the feeling of frightfulness to viewers.
Another thing that impresses me a lot is that the scene Mak, Nak and Mak’s friends have dinner in Mak’s house. I am impressed not only by the content of this scene but also the way Nak’s image is presented in this scene. It can be easily seen that the main shot used in this scene in wide-angle shot. Personally, I think the main purpose of this shot is to let audiences see all the people in the room. Moreover, it is used to draw viewers’ attention to Nak. Significantly, Nak is so much darker than the others that viewers feel like a ghost is sitting there, not a beautiful woman. For me, I really find it interesting. It is very difficult to show something to audiences in a way that audiences need to take notice of and think of it. In other words, I think the interaction between film and audiences is created powerfully.
One perspective that is also extremely striking and noticeable is when Nak appears in the shape of a ghost
What’s mentioning is that the camera rotates one round fully, which grabs audiences’ attention effectively. They can see Nak’s face from different viewpoints and recognise easily every Nak’s facial emotion. By using this type of camera movement, the director has represented partly the meaning of this scene. We can see that Nak from an opposite direction becomes normal. In other words, Nak goes back to the right position, which seems to be a signal that everything is about to go back to the first place. ‘A complete circle is a clear symbol of unity, completeness, a return to normality.’ (my teacher-John Blythe). At the end of this film, Nak and Mak do not break up, in contrast, they live happily together henceforth. So, this scene plays a vital part to show that finally, everything will be okay, whatever obstacles happen. I personally believe that this kind of perspective has done its work very well because it allows audiences to think of the end in the right way.
The director also created some sequences that play an important role in letting audiences have an idea of what happened in the past, when Mak was in the battlefield. First of all, the people in village who used to be very familiar with Mak have strange behavior. In other words, they behave in a very out of ordinary way. They seem very scared and even freak out when they see Mak. They don’t sell Mak anything although their goods are still available. The woman eats all the cakes, the man throws away all fishes and the woman in the store says something very weird “You still don’t know anything, Mak?” And then her son uses his hand to cover her mouth and pulls her into the room. All of these activities make audiences feel very confused and curious. They all have some questions arising in their mind. For example, for what reasons do they behave like that? What happened to Nak when Mak was far away? Then, the story develops in more dramatic way and peaks its intense point with one important event. That event is that Ter goes to Mak’s garden to answer the call of nature and he discovers that Nak was dead because he sees Nak’s bones with her ring which is still on her finger under soil.
When the film has developed gradually in a more dramatic way, it meets its climax. Mentioning climax, it is true that every film has a specific scene that constitutes its climax. In ‘Pee Mak’, that scene is when all characters (Mak, Nak, their baby and Mak’s friends) are on a boat. This time, one of Mak’s friend decided to make everything clear, figure this out to know, who is exactly a ghost. They all know that if they look at somebody through their groin, they will know whether that person is a ghost or not. Therefore, he chose to sing the song that all of them used to sing in the battle with the purpose of letting everyone stoop, except for Nak because she is the last person, so he could see Nak easily through his groin. And that’s it! Finally, Nak appears in the shape of a ghost! One thing that audiences all bear in their mind is Mak is still the only person who doesn’t know Nak is a ghost. And now, he knows the truth!
Everybody who watches until this part all thinks that this is the most important part in the film. However, once again, the director has made audiences so surprising. At the end, it turns out that Mak has known everything. He discovered Nak’s bones buried under soil. He was terrified and miserable, however, he keeps ignoring everything, he just pretends himself that Nak’s still alive. This part is so touching that a lot of people cried when they watched it. There is a sentence spoken by Mak and after that it has become very popular on Internet, especially facebook: ‘I know I’m stupid. But I am not so stupid that I don’t know my wife is a ghost.’ This film really touches every audience’s the deepest side and also, it makes them understand and admire this eternal love between Mak and Nak.
Regarding ideology, ‘Pee Mak’ has shown that no matter how hard it is, if people truly love each other, even they dare to sacrifice because of their lover, finally they will certainly have a happy ending. In other words, when true love exists, a happy ending happens. This film has encouraged everybody, especially young people, to love with all their heart, to always be ready to face up to all obstacles, even the most difficult obstacles. True love is always the incentive to help people go through everything!
In conclusion, it is undeniable that ‘Pee Mak’ is a very influencing and successful movie. There are many factors deciding the success of this movie, which are talented actors, the smart combination of two different genres horror and comedy, the meaning that it conveys and its structure. Thanks to this film, audiences have had a lot of new and interesting experience. Moreover, audiences can learn a new lesson about love and life. It is not a surprising thing that ‘Pee Mak’ has become the most successful and significant film in Thai film industry. In the future, I believe that this film will win more awards and gain more success.
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